There are some unique aspects to home health care services in northeastern Pennsylvania. Here are some things to remember when selecting a home health care agency.
1. Non-English-speaking staff are in short supply:
If you speak a language other than English, it can be difficult to find home health aides and caregivers with non-English language skills in NEPA. If you speak a language that is not well-represented in our region, it is essential that you discuss communication preferences with your home health agency.
2. It can be difficult to find home health agencies in our more rural areas:
There are many agencies that claim to provide services in the more rural and remote areas of NEPA. The reality is that a lot of those agencies cannot adequately provide services in these regions. Home health agencies are responsible for hiring, training, scheduling, and managing home health aides/caregivers. Home health agencies in the rural parts of NEPA often have great difficulty recruiting home health aides/caregivers.
3. Home health jobs are widely available:
Home health agencies in NEPA are constantly struggling to hire home health aides/caregivers. These agencies cannot keep up with the demand for home health services in our region. Home health aide jobs are physically and emotionally challenging. Combine that with the relatively low wages and it’s a perfect storm for chronic staffing shortages. As a result, home health agencies spend almost as much time and resources on recruiting staff as they do on finding new individuals to serve.
4. Those jobs are not being filled fast enough to keep up with demand:
The staffing shortages mentioned above have the potential to disrupt your home health care services. When selecting a home health agency make sure to ask how they handle staffing emergencies as an organization. Do they have a back-up plan for providing staff if your staff call off or quit? Will they communicate with you if there will be a disruption to your services?
5. Transportation can be an issue:
We lack sufficient public transportation in many areas. In many of our more rural areas it can be hard to access public transportation. Not every agency will allow their staff to transport service-participants in their personal vehicles. If you need transportation as a part of your home health/home care services, be sure to ask about that from your home health agency before you begin services.
If you have any questions about home health care services in Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, or Wyoming counties, please contact us today.
NEPA Home Health 