About the Project

For a pdf of the project description, click here.

Background

Of the 7.2 million individuals who received home health services in 2000, 69 percent were over 65.  This proportion will increase as the impending “age boom” swells the ranks of the “older old.”  However, there is no overarching framework to promote consistent national practice guidelines for the provision of high quality, effective home health care to an aging population. Home care agencies, professional and paraprofessional caregivers, families and consumer groups have struggled independently to identify the best practices to promote, maintain and restore the health and independence of older persons who rely on home-based care.

Currently, there is no single source for home health care practitioners to access a common set of evidence-based geriatric practices.  Practice in the United States is uneven, and home care agencies are receiving inconsistent “best practices” information from multiple disparate locations.  The home health care industry requires a consistent geriatric practice framework on a national level.  Once developed, this framework can serve as the necessary touchstone for guiding service delivery to the growing population of older patients who receive care in their homes and communities.

Scope

For this project, Geriatric Home Care is defined as any health or supportive services provided to older persons in their homes that are designed to address the health conditions, risks or goals that are associated with old age. The cube pictured below presents the three dimensions the project strives to integrate into a framework that will promote excellence in practice.

The cube faces read:

I. Priority Areas
II. Strategies for Change & Implementation
III. Older Adult Values for Home Care

The specific contents of each face of the cube will change as the project evolves. The current version of the cube (as a PDF) is available here.

© 2008 Center for Home Care Policy & Research