Home Care: Top Products for Home Health Aides

 One of the most important but least discussed elements of medical care is home health care. Home-health aides and personal care aides are projected to add 1.1 million new jobs to the U.S. economy in the next 10 years. Although it's often assumed that this kind of care is only for patients who are confined to bed, it can be a great option for any number of people in many different situations:

• Homebound patients: those who cannot leave home without an assistive device, or without a taxing effort, or without worsening their health.
• Adjusting to changes in ability to complete daily activities.
• Suffering from memory loss or other cognitive impairments.
• Adjusting to new medications or a new diagnosis.
• Recovering from injury.
• Receiving hospice and palliative care.

In most cases, home health care is a temporary measure, but one designed to provide care or allow for recovery in comfortable surroundings. It also diminishes the need for frequent and inconvenient travel to appointments, as well as allows patients to adapt their lifestyle and surroundings to new medical situations. It's also an excellent option in regions where specialized medical care is hard to reach. Such an adaptable form of care has potential for great numbers of people:

• 90 percent of Americans polled would rather age at home; home care is their preferred method of health care.
• 5 million Americans receive home care.
• 1.5 million patients receive hospice care annually.
• 114,000 hospice professionals and many more volunteers provide hospice care for 3,800 organizations in the United States.

With the needs of home care patients so varied, a caregiver has to be ready for anything. We've compiled a list of products that will help you do just that, whether you're a professional home health aide or assisting with a loved one's rest and recovery.

1. Traveling Nurse Car-Go Bag

A necessity for traveling and home care nurses, this stylish, portable bag has multiple compartments for just about any personal and professional item you might need! It features multiple interior pockets, Velcro straps for stability, and even a removable aneroid sphygmomanometer pouch, allowing for easy organization of all your most important nursing supplies. Every nurse needs an efficient and convenient way to carry instruments, and the Nurse Car-Go Bag is the perfect option.

2. First Crush Gen 2 Automatic Electric Pill Crusher

Swallowing pills is difficult for many patients. Some physically aren't capable of ingesting an average pill. There's many options for people who need their pills crushed down, but none as effective as this: the First Crush Automatic Electric Pill Crusher. This rechargeable device grinds pills down into a fine powder, rather than smashing them into inconsistent fragments, which allows for smoother swallowing and easy administration into patient feeding tubes. The First Crush makes preparing medications effortless.

3. DigiScan Multi-Function Ear and Forehead Talking Thermometer

Compact and easy to use for traveling nurses, the DigiScan is a versatile tool for patient care that takes accurate temperature readings in multiple formats. With its infrared scanning technology, you can take temperatures just by scanning a forehead, without having to disturb a sleeping patient! It can read out results in multiple languages, warn of fevers on its LED display, and even store 30 temperature readings in its memory. Whether you're a home care nurse or a parent with a sick child, the DigiScan is the ideal choice for monitoring temperature while not interrupting rest.

4. Bedside Care No-Rinse Body Wash, Shampoo, and Incontinent Cleanser

One of the most challenging aspects of caring for a home patient is cleanliness. Many home care and hospice patients have limited mobility, which makes bathing difficult, as well as proper cleaning of bodily waste, especially for incontinent patients. Bedside Care Body Wash & Shampoo is a no-rinse cleanser that kills bacteria without the need for water. Alcohol-free, this pH balanced cleaner is gentle on patients' skin. Bedside Care is the safe antimicrobial wash you need for patients or loved ones with limited mobility.

5. Kendall SureCare Disposable Underpads

Caring for the incontinent is a challenge. Patients need frequent changing and cleaning. Keeping patients dry is an important part of warding off skin irritations and discomfort, a common issue for those with limited mobility. SureCare Disposable Underpads, available in multiple sizes, have waterproof backing that helps keep furniture and other surfaces dry and sanitary, deterring odors and increasing comfort.

6. Sani-Cloth Plus Germicidal Disposable Wipes

One of the largest challenges to home care is keeping a sanitary environment. Infection control is vital to ensuring a safe and healthy atmosphere for patients or loved ones convalescing at home. Luckily, home conditions are more easily managed than acute care settings -- you can control to a reasonable extent the germs that are present in a home. One of the most effective and simple ways to do this is through disinfecting surfaces. Sani-Cloth Plus wipes are alcohol based, and powerful enough to kill germs in medical settings but safe enough to use on children's toys. These hospital grade, germicidal, disposable wipes kill many common bacteria types responsible for major infections, making them the reliable option to ensure any home setting is safe for patients.