What Is the Most Important Health Care Support Service? Essay Example

In your opinion, what is the most important health care support service? Why? How might the lives of people needing this service be different if that service were unavailable?

In my opinion, the most important health care support service is skilled home health care. This area of health care support is provided by qualified, health professionals such as doctors, nurses and physical therapists who give medical attention to patients in their own homes. Typically after a stay in the hospital because of surgery or illness, skilled home care is needed to help the patient with matters such as wound care, administering medications or injections and performing physical therapy exercises. Some skilled home health care includes hospice care in the home as well.

Home health care also includes care given by non-medical professionals such as nurse’s aides or Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) who provide services, to patients in the home, such as help with bathing and dressing, moving from the bed to chairs, walking and using the restroom. CNAs also do dietary duties and may prepare meals for the patients, and even help to feed them if they are unable to feed themselves.

Why is home health care important? It is important because it helps with the recovery process, and patients can often get better quicker and easier when they are in familiar surroundings and around their own belongings. Hospitals can be cold and intrusive to a patient after a while. Home care is also less expensive than staying in the hospital, so this is a selling point to patients about the benefits of home health care.

Without home health care, many people needing this service would be left to fend for themselves after surgery or illness, and this could result in further injury to them. They could fall while trying to get to the bathroom or maybe burn themselves trying to fix something to eat. Many people may not even be able to move around much at all and have trouble administering their own medications and injections so soon after being in the hospital. Patients are often very weak and still under the influence of sedatives and pain killers and need someone there to help them for a few days. Also, without home health care, many people would have to pay more money out of pocket to hospitals and nursing facilities.

Home health care is often necessary for patients to become stronger and to heal properly, and this is done best in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes.