WellSpring Home Health is proud to assist older Alaskans and people with disabilities who wish to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible. The services we provide range from assistance with daily chores and errands to personal care, transportation, and professional health care services, such as physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing.
There are two main options available in Alaska: skilled services and unskilled services. Our programs are coordinated by highly trained and licensed home care providers, and our whole team is dedicated to ensuring each client receives professional and compassionate care. Everything we do is designed to make your life safe and comfortable so you can enjoy a great quality of life.
(Please note we also provide home care services in Pearce County, Washington. If you’d like to access these services, please call our Tacoma office on (253) 625-7606.)
Let’s dive into the home care options in a little more depth.
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Option 1: Skilled Home Care Services in Alaska
Skilled home care services essentially means medical care. We employ a multi-disciplinary team of health care professionals who can work with your primary care physician to deliver seamless care.
Say, for example, that you need care from a registered nurse (RN). We can arrange for a nurse to help you on a full time, part time, or per visit basis. They will liaise with your doctor and work with your family and other caregivers to provide personalized care designed specifically to meet your needs. This could include medication management, pain management, wound care, and more.
We also have certified nurse assistants (CNAs) on staff. They can help with daily activities, such as personal care and hygiene, meal preparation and planning, emotional and psychological support, and more. They’re also CPR certified, which is very important because it means they’ll be able to intervene in an emergency which may save your life. We have strict requirements for employment, including background checks, so you can relax knowing you’re in safe hands.
One of the most important parts of skilled home care services is that qualified therapists can meet you at your home to deliver the care you need. There are three different types we work with, each of which has a slightly different focus that will help you live independently at home:
Physical Therapy
Physical therapists develop plans to help you regain mobility, reduce pain, restore functionality, and prevent disability, working closely with your primary care physician. Their services include:
- Movement and joint motion analysis
- Developing therapeutic exercise programs
- Coordination and balance training
- Mobility assistance
- Pain management
- Massage therapy
Speech Therapy
Speech therapists help you develop language and speech skills, which is a really important part of stroke recovery, as well as overcoming feeding and swallowing difficulties that may occur as we get older. The key services they provide include:
- Understanding and processing verbal language
- Making yourself understood through speech and other means
- Strengthening the muscles you need to eat and swallow
- Addressing hearing impairments
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists help you relearn skills and use new devices such as wheelchairs, braces, splints, and prosthetics to make your home as safe as possible. Their work includes:
- Home safety awareness education
- Hazard awareness and injury protection
- Training in the use of mobility assistive devices
- Development of specialized exercise programs
- Motor skills rehabilitation
- Fitting for prosthetics
- Correction of posture
- Pain management
- Balance training
- Fall prevention
Other Skilled Home Care Services
Many other things can fall into the category of skilled home care services in Alaska. For example, at WellSpring Home Health, we also have medical social workers on staff to assist you and your family cope with the personal, physical, and emotional effects of disease or disability.
Getting older and asking for help isn’t always easy, but we want to make the transition as smooth as possible for you. These team members can also assist with accessing financial resources and community assistance programs, such as home meal deliveries, to make things easier.
Option 2: Unskilled Home Care Services in Alaska
Unskilled home care services, on the other hand, basically summarizes everything that falls into non-medical care. These are the services you need to feel safe, comfortable, and happy at home. This can be organized by contacting our team directly and discussing your care needs.
This is different for every person. For example, if you’re struggling to get yourself dressed in the morning, we can help. If you’re fine with dressing, but you find laundry really difficult, we can step in. If shopping for groceries is too much, we can take that off your plate. The main thing you need to know is that you can access a fully customized home care plan to suit your individual needs.
Here are the key unskilled home care services we provide in Alaska:
- Meal preparation and feeding assistance
- Housekeeping and running errands
- Bathing, showering, and grooming
- Mobility and transportation
- Bowel and bladder care
Accessing Home Care Services in Alaska
We treat all our clients like family. As such, we aim to make it as easy as possible to access our services. There are multiple ways you can access skilled and unskilled home care services.
Generally speaking, you may be eligible for home care if your doctor decides you need medical care at home and makes plans accordingly. This could be because you have a medical condition or because you are considered “homebound,” which means you’re unable to leave your home without considerable and taxing effort. The best place to start is by talking to your primary care physician.
We work with the following insurers:
- Medicare (which covers 100% for skilled services)
- Medicaid
- Tri-Care
- VA/Tri-West
- Workers’ Compensation
- Private Pay Clients
- Private Insurance Companies
Veteran Home Care Services in Alaska
We’re also honored to provide home care services in Alaska to the veterans who bravely protect our freedom and our way of life. This includes both skilled and unskilled services, because we want to ensure all veterans can live with dignity in their own homes. We work closely with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to help veterans living a long way from their nearest VA facility. The best way to find out if this is the right option for you is to call us and discuss your situation.
About WellSpring Home Health
WellSpring Home Health provides compassionate and professional home care services at two locations in Alaska: Anchorage and Wasilla. We also have a third location in Tacoma, Washington, focusing on the Pearce County area. We aim to provide the best possible home care for all our patients, whether that’s 24-hour complex care or weekly patient visits.
We operate on two core philosophies:
- That each person has innate worth, regardless of their health, age, race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. We treat everyone equally.
- That each person is entitled to maximize their potential and enjoy a great quality of life. That’s why we treat all our patients just like our own family.
What this means is that our clients can enjoy an unsurpassed level of service according to the highest possible standards. We only hire professionals who have a proven track record of providing high-quality services. We’re passionate about providing elderly and disabled Alaskans the care they need to live safely, comfortably, and independently at home.
Want to learn more? Contact us to set up an assessment.