Long-term care in your own home
Steady, everyday help at home for someone living with a chronic condition or extended needs. This is long-term care in your own home, not a care facility.
Phones answered 24/7. A coordinator calls back within the hour, day or night.
What long-term home care includes
Long-term home care brings the everyday help a person needs into one ongoing plan. A plan can combine several of these.
- Personal care. Bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and help moving around the home, with patience and dignity. More on personal care.
- Medication reminders. Prompts that keep daily routines on track. Caregivers remind only. They do not administer medication, and this is not nursing care. More on medication reminders.
- Meals and light housekeeping. Meal prep and light housekeeping, so the home keeps running.
- Company, errands and outings. Friendly visits, errands and outings, so your mom or dad stays connected to life outside the house. More on companion care.
- Memory care support. Redirection, validation and calm, familiar routines for someone living with dementia. More on dementia care.
- Respite for the family. A few hours, a weekend or overnight, so family caregivers can rest.
- Overnight and 24/7 care. A caregiver who stays in the home overnight, a caregiver who stays awake all night, or full 24/7 care. Available in all four areas we serve. More on respite and overnight care.
Who it helps
Long-term home care suits someone whose needs are ongoing, not short-term. Often that is a parent with a chronic condition, or changes in mobility or memory, who wants to stay in the home they know.
It often starts with adult children. You have noticed your mom needs more help than a quick visit can give, and the need is not going away. Or your dad has been caring for your mom on his own and is worn out.
It also helps families who cannot be there every day, because of work, distance or their own health. Your parent gets care in their own home, not a place in a care facility.
Care can grow as needs do. It can begin with a few visits a week and add respite, overnight care or 24/7 care later. If your hours are approved under Client Directed Home Care Invoicing (CDHCI), explained below, only your case manager can change them. You can add private hours on top.
We match caregivers by personality, language, schedule and need. Our caregivers speak many languages, including Tagalog, Punjabi, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic and French.
What a visit looks like
Every visit is at least 2 hours. What happens in it depends on your parent's care plan. A morning visit, for example, might be help with a shower and dressing, breakfast and a medication reminder. Here is how the office keeps each visit consistent.
Problems are caught before the visit
Every morning our system checks the upcoming schedule. It flags problems, like a visit with no caregiver assigned, so the office fixes them before the visit, not after.
A coordinator confirms each visit
A coordinator confirms each visit on our schedule. The same coordinator knows your family, your caregiver and the plan.
Your caregiver works from the care plan
Before care starts, we go over the care plan with you. It is kept on file with your preferences, and your caregiver works from it at every visit. On CDHCI, the visit stays within your approved care plan.
Time is recorded for each type of care
On CDHCI, we record the time for each type of care, as the program requires. The Alberta Blue Cross invoice for your approved hours is built from that record. For private hours, we invoice you.
If your caregiver is away
A backup caregiver works from the same plan on file, so they do not start from scratch.
How it's paid for
There are two ways care can be paid for, and you can combine them. On CDHCI, Alberta Blue Cross pays for the home care hours your case manager approves. With private care, you pay for the hours yourself.
A home care case manager with Assisted Living Alberta assesses your parent's needs. The case manager approves the hours and decides whether client-directed care suits your parent. Home care used to be run by Alberta Health Services (AHS), so letters may still say AHS. It is the same case manager and the same program.
No case manager yet? You can refer yourself for an assessment, and no doctor's referral is needed. Call us at 587.443.1888 and we will explain how, or find your area's intake line in our CDHCI guide.
You choose the provider, and you can switch at any time. #1 Right Care is registered to invoice Alberta Blue Cross for approved CDHCI hours. We invoice Alberta Blue Cross directly for the approved hours we deliver. You are not invoiced for those hours, and you get a copy of every claim statement. Please share the approved care plan with us, because your case manager cannot share your parent's health information with us.
CDHCI covers only care in your approved care plan, and each type of care has its own approved hours. Homemaking, like light housekeeping, counts only if it is in the plan, and only alongside personal care or respite, never on its own. A visit only for company or errands is not covered, and outings never are, because your parent must be home for CDHCI care. Overnight and 24/7 care work the same way: CDHCI covers only the hours your case manager approves.
CDHCI is for people living in their own home. It is generally not available in a lodge, supportive living, assisted living or a group home. Your parent, or someone they choose such as a family member, must be able to direct the care. Your parent must be home for each visit, and care is not covered during a hospital stay.
Every visit, CDHCI or private, is at least 2 hours, and the program does not add hours to meet that minimum. If your approved plan has shorter visits, we work out the schedule with you and put any cost in writing before care starts.
Your case manager decides what is approved. If your needs change, you talk to your case manager, and we can explain beforehand what to ask. Read our CDHCI guide.
Private care is available on its own or on top of approved CDHCI hours, for example for outings, or for a visit that is only company or errands. We invoice you for private hours. You get a written quote before any care starts, with no extra charge for evenings, weekends or holidays. See how costs and scheduling work.
Where we provide it
Outside these areas? Call us. We may still be able to help.
Calgary
Long-term home care in all Calgary quadrants and the surrounding area.
Edmonton
Long-term home care in Edmonton's inner city and suburbs.
Red Deer
Long-term home care in Red Deer and central Alberta.
Lethbridge
Long-term home care in Lethbridge and southern Alberta.
Common questions
Is this the same as a long-term care facility?
Does CDHCI cover long-term home care?
Will we see the same caregiver?
What happens if mom goes into hospital?
Can care grow as mom's needs change?
Talk to a coordinator about long-term home care
Call 587.443.1888 any time and tell us what your mom or dad needs. Prefer to write? Use the request form, and a coordinator calls you back within the hour, day or night. For private care, you get a written quote before anything starts.