Home Care & Hospice Month

Celebrate Home Care in November

In November, the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) along with the entire home care industry throughout the country celebrates National Home Care and Hospice Month to honor care giving heroes who make a remarkable difference in the lives of patients and the families they serve. It is an important opportunity to recognize the health care administrators, nurses, clinicians, therapists, aides, companions and other home care professionals who assist our most frail citizens and help them to remain at home and in the community.

This year it is especially important that we take the time and effort to celebrate Home Care & Hospice Month by recognizing the role that services provided in the home plays in the long term care continuum. The provision of services in the home reduces the costs by avoiding the unnecessary use of the emergency room, hospitalizations and nursing home placement. The reduction in the use of these institutional services decreases the cost of healthcare and relieves an overburdened system of care.

November is the perfect time to connect with your local state and federal representatives, particularly if they were recently elected or re-elected to their office. Therefore, CAHSAH strongly encourages all members to use November as a time to establish or re-establish relationships with your state and federal legislators to ensure our highest chance of success in our advocacy efforts for the upcoming year. It is particularly important that we communicate CAHSAH's priority issues, protecting the personal attendant exemption from modification or elimination and ensuring that some sort of regulation of home care aide services is established from an industry perspective. CAHSAH relies on legislative oversight when addressing regulatory issues such as the establishment of workers' compensation and hospice facility regulations, and for the implementation of the Continuing Care Initiative.

One way to connect with your legislators is to invite them on a home care visit, ask them to speak at your celebration of home care month, or visit them in their office to talk about your company and clients. CAHSAH makes itself fully available to assist you in setting up meetings with your local representatives. Contact Mary Adorno at (916) 641-5795 x124, or madorno@cahsah.org, and we will make all the arrangements and provide any background materials you may need. CAHSAH salutes the heroes of home care who make this possible and offer our gratitude in November and beyond.