What Services Can a Home Care Agency Provide Inside an Assisted Living Facility?

A home care agency may provide supplemental, resident-specific non-medical support inside an assisted living facility when the community permits outside caregivers and the services fit the resident’s assessed needs. The outside caregiver supports one resident under an agency care plan. They do not replace facility employees, licensed clinical providers, or the community’s required staffing.

What Non-Medical Home Care Services Can Be Provided in Assisted Living?

Non-medical home care services in assisted living may include personal assistance, companionship, routine supervision, light homemaker support, respite, and overnight care. The exact services depend on the resident’s needs, facility policies, agency scope, caregiver training, consent, schedule, and payer requirements.

Indiana’s Personal Care Services Agency program covers three broad categories:

  • Attendant care that helps a person complete daily activities
  • Homemaker services such as laundry, shopping, meal preparation, housekeeping, and cleaning
  • Companion services that provide fellowship, protection, transportation, and escort assistance

These agencies are licensed separately from residential care facilities by the Indiana Department of Health.

For an individual assisted living resident, Nana Cares may provide meal-related assistance, medication reminders, routine support, accompanied activities, light tasks connected to the resident’s immediate living area, and other approved non-medical services. Additional information is available through home care partnerships for assisted living facilities .

Can an Outside Caregiver Help an Assisted Living Resident With Personal Care?

Yes, an outside caregiver may help an assisted living resident with personal care when the tasks are approved by the facility, appropriate after assessment, and included in the agency’s care plan.

Personal care for assisted living residents may include:

  • Bathing and shower assistance
  • Dressing and grooming
  • Oral and personal hygiene
  • Toileting and incontinence-care support
  • Eating or feeding assistance
  • Appropriate mobility and transfer assistance
  • Morning and bedtime routines

Nana Cares describes its Personal/Attendant Care as non-medical assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, mobility, meal-related needs, and other daily routines.

The resident’s care plan should clearly identify which tasks belong to the facility and which belong to the outside caregiver. Personal and attendant care in Indianapolis should supplement resident services, not create uncertainty about who is responsible for essential care.

Can Home Care Agencies Provide Companionship, Respite, or Overnight Support?

Yes, home care agencies may provide companion and overnight care in assisted living for individual residents when those services are allowed by the community and fit the agency’s non-medical scope.

Companion care may involve conversation, shared activities, supervision, reminders, and support with maintaining a familiar daily routine. Nana Cares describes companion care as social interaction, supervision, and routine support for seniors and adults with disabilities.

Respite care may give a spouse, adult child, or other family caregiver time away from responsibilities they continue to handle after the resident moves into assisted living. It may include companionship, supervision, meals, personal care when included in the plan, and care-related household tasks.

Overnight support may include reassurance, bedtime assistance, scheduled bathroom help, routine supervision, and morning preparation. It is not continuous nursing or hospital-level monitoring.

Relevant service information can be found through companion care in Indianapolis, respite care in Indianapolis, and overnight care in Indianapolis.

What Services Cannot a Non-Medical Home Care Agency Provide in Assisted Living?

Home care service limitations in assisted living generally exclude skilled nursing, medical treatment, clinical assessments, medication administration, wound care, injections, therapy, and emergency medical services.

Indiana treats home health agencies and Personal Care Services Agencies as different provider categories. Home health agencies may provide nursing treatment, procedures, and home health aide services, while Personal Care Services Agencies provide attendant, homemaker, and companion services.

A Nana Cares caregiver also cannot:

  • Replace assisted living employees
  • Fulfill facility staffing requirements
  • Provide facility-wide coverage
  • Supervise residents who are not part of the agency care plan
  • Perform unsafe transfers or tasks beyond their training
  • Guarantee emergency or replacement coverage

Private caregivers should remain separate from the community’s workforce and should not be counted toward its staffing requirements.

Discuss Resident-Specific Services With Nana Cares

Assisted living leaders, residents, and authorized family representatives can contact Nana Cares to discuss a free needs assessment and determine whether personal care, companionship, respite, homemaker assistance, or overnight support may fit a resident’s needs.

Services depend on assessment results, facility approval, care-plan scope, payer authorization, scheduling requirements, safety, and caregiver availability.