Why is home care so important?

Home care is an evolving and maturing part of the health care system. In Ontario and in Canada, the importance of home care is becoming more and more recognized as a major foundation upon which other parts of the health care system rest. Home care does not exist independently of the rest of the health care system. It is pressured to meet the demands of the acute care system to support durable discharges, and it must support primary care objectives to maintain very sick people in the home and prevent ER presentations and admissions. Home care providers are challenged to support sicker and more acute clients and also to meet needs that are culturally, clinically and linguistically specialized. This requires the evolution of home care provider organizations that can meet a myriad of demands and standards.

Most people intuitively accept the fact that home care is important to allow people to live at home with the support they need to recuperate, function independently or face the end of life. As home care expands it is better able to fulfill its function of preventing premature institutionalization of the elderly or medically fragile persons and supporting people of all ages to enjoy greater quality of life in their own homes. Indeed, national studies and research have shown that people recover better at home and that home care is cost effective.