Health Care Services For the Elderly

Home health care can be for medical needs, but it can also be just to help you with day-to-day activities. For many people, it is those activities that are the hardest. Your friend may love going shopping, but he or she can no longer drive. That can be very frustrating. It is important to get your friend the right help.

Even though your friend may not need medical home health care at this point, it is a good idea to be familiar with it. It is wonderful for your friend to have someone come in and tidy up his or her room so that he or she can find the things needed. It is also nice to just have someone there in case there ever is a medical problem. Even though the help will not have complete medical training, he or she should know what to do in a medical emergency.

Some people who can no longer shop can still cook. Some groups will cook meals. If your friend needs this help, you might suggest this in addition to helping with shopping and just around the house. Even if your friend still loves to cook, he or she might still like the help during the meal in case a bottle needs to be opened or something heavy needs to be lifted.

Make sure to talk to your friend carefully about calling health care services. It is important that he or she not feel like you are not being kind. You just need to explain that you think he or she could use some help. Tell him or her that you wish you were able, but you are not. Explain that there are people who can help, and that his or her doctor should be able to get a referral.

If you explain it in the right way, hopefully your elderly friend will not mind. He or she should understand that help is something that is needed.

You might have more than home health care company near you. You might be able to help your friend by checking into the various ones. You should ask how they regulate their employees and whether they do background checks before hiring. Find out whether those going into the homes are CNAs or have no nursing training at all. These are important areas to consider as you think about home health care for a friend. You will not regret checking these things out if it helps your friend to have a better quality of life.

Health Care Services

There are many health services and a proper range of health care services needs to be provided under a proper healthcare system. The United States does not have the best health care services in the world but it can be said that it has the best emergency care system around the globe. The fact behind this is that America is having highest level of poverty and income inequality among all the rich and developed nations and it affects the reach of the people to the proper health services.

Health systems are designed to fulfill the needs of the health care of some targeted nation or population. Health care planning and its proper system implementation are much more necessary for any country or government. According to the World health report 2000 "Improving performance are good health, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and fair financial contribution." Duckett (2004) proposed a two dimensional approach to evaluation of health systems: "quality, efficiency and acceptability on one dimension and equity on another."

To have a best health care facilities UNICEF advises that there must be three primary steps which can then systematically improve the health services and to complete a health system.

1. Standards
2. Assessment and Accreditation
3. Support Materials

Seven years ago World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. The following parameters were taken in consideration for the best care services;

· Insurance Coverage
· Access
· Fairness
· Health Lives
· Quality
· Life and Death
· Patient Satisfaction
· Use of IT
· Top of the Line Care
· Walk in clinic

Health is a state of well being, physically, mentally, socially and psychologically. Health services are fundamental part of any community, therefore financial stability and proper coverage of medical through insurance or some other way is very much necessary for a human to live and stay normal. There is a proper process oriented structure is required, implemented by the government to provide the health services to each and every of their citizen. The health care industry is responsible to provide the proper health care services to the people with their arm namely health services providers. These health services are paid and could be paid by the patient, by insurance plan, or by the government. Charities and volunteers also play their role to provide the health services to those who are unable to afford. There could be various ways to provide health services to the patient, normally can be categorized into two main;

· Face to Face:

This is the most common way, where the provider, interacts with the patient physically and after having the checkup and understanding of the issues, diagnoses the problem or suggests some tests or medication.

· Non -Face To Face:

Telecommunication is the latest emerging facility, which is now in use to provide healthcare services as well. The practitioner can interact with the patient using, phone, email, text message, or video conferencing and then can provide further suggestions to him / her.

Health services are also provided at schools where the children could be taken care of. UNESCO has published a set of tools to provide the guidance to school healthcare services providers. Following are the basic parameters which must be catered;

· HIV/AIDS
· Food and nutrition
· Helminthes and hygiene
· Malaria
· Violence
· Drugs, tobacco and alcohol

In any health services providing system there could be the following three types of health services.

1. Primary Health Care Services:

Whenever someone needs a health care service in normal and routine life, who could be a family doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, pharmacist, etc. Primary health services often include prevention and treatment of common diseases and injuries.

2. Secondary Health CareServices:

Whenever someone needs a special care he/she is referred to a specialized care unit, like hospital, or nursing home to provide secondary level of health facilities.

3. Additional / Supplementary Health Care Services:

The services which are normally provided to the senior citizens, children or to whom which do not have their proper medical coverage or paying capabilities and the expanses are covered through government funds or through some volunteer or charity organization.