Characteristics of clients who receive home health aide service

Nurses who plan and supervise home health aide service must have a good understanding of the amount and intensity of nursing care and the amount of home health aide service that individual clients will need. However, there is little in the nursing literature that describes how clients who receive both RN and home health aide services differ from clients who receive only RN care. Indeed, there have been few reports on how need for home health aide service relates to the amount of nursing care received. Secondary analysis of data from a study on resource consumption in home care revealed that clients who receive home health aide service: 1) are older; 2) are more likely to be women; 3) have a higher rating using the Community Health Intensity Rating Scale; and 4) are discharged from the caseload due to death or institutionalization at a higher rate than those who receive only RN care. Clients who received both home health aide services and RN care needed assistance with activities of daily living, but they also required more RN care than did clients who received only RN care. These data hold implications for nurses in addressing agency staffing, focusing home health aide training, and advocating for resources to address service needs of this segment of their care population.