Homecare and continuing care refers to a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services that may be offered in the home, in the community or in a hospital or medical setting. These programs can include: counselling, psychotherapy, individual and group therapy, day treatment programs, wound care, visiting/home nurses, meal support programs (i.e. Meals on Wheels), adult day care and homemakers services.
In the past, continuing care services for people who require support services focused on facility-based programs such as nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals. In recent years, there has been significant development in the delivery of services to support individuals to remain in their homes, or in community-based supportive living residences.
An individual that is aging or is experiencing mental or physical illness, for example, often faces unsupportive and stressful circumstances – poverty and unemployment. If discharged from formal care without continuing or home care they are likely to experience more setbacks, crises and hospital readmissions than a person with a strong support system.
Continuing care and home care is typically delivered by voluntary organizations to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the mentally ill, the physically disabled and individuals that have been discharged from corrections facilities. They provide supports and services such as: transitional residences, counselling services, links to affordable apartments, home health care services, case management, psychiatric rehabilitation, family care for adults, respite programs, employment programs, boarding homes and group homes.