I Need Home Care — Where Do I Start?
If you or someone you care for is having difficulty managing safely at home, you may be wondering whether home care could help.
Home care is support provided to a person where they live, to help them remain at home as safely and independently as possible.
Home care is not only for seniors. People of different ages may need support at home because of their health, disability or care needs.
You do not need to understand the whole Alberta home-care system before you ask for help.
If you think help may be needed, the first step is simply to start the conversation.
Call Health Link at 811
You can contact Health Link by calling 811 and ask how to begin the continuing-care assessment process for yourself or someone you are helping.
You can keep the conversation simple.
You do not need a physician referral to begin requesting a continuing-care assessment.
Calling does not mean that services, funding or a certain number of care hours will automatically be approved. The purpose of starting the process is to have the person's situation considered through the appropriate continuing-care pathway.
What do you need help with?
Jump directly to the information you need.
What Happens After You Make Contact?
You do not need to know every department or government term before you call.
At a basic level, the pathway looks like this:
The exact process can vary depending on the person's circumstances.
The important thing at this stage is knowing where to begin.
What Is the Assessment For?
The assessment is an opportunity for the appropriate health professional to understand what is happening in the person's daily life and their current care needs.
The assessment helps inform what care or service options may apply.
It does not mean that a particular service, amount of funding or number of home-care hours is guaranteed.
Knowing Your Rights does not conduct the assessment and cannot determine whether someone is eligible for a particular service.
Our role is to help you understand the process, prepare for the conversation and know what questions you can ask.
How to Prepare
There are two different kinds of preparation worth understanding.
Information You May Be Asked to Provide
Have basic information available when you make contact, including:
- the person's Alberta healthcare-card information; and
- current contact information.
Knowing Your Rights also recommends doing a little preparation before the assessment so that it is easier to explain what daily life actually looks like.
You may find it helpful to have:
- a current medication list;
- your family doctor's contact information;
- written examples of daily care challenges;
- a short list of questions you want to ask; and
- someone you trust available to help you remember important information, if appropriate.
These are KYR practical preparation suggestions. They should not be understood as a mandatory Alberta assessment checklist.
Describe What Is Really Happening
Families often become very good at managing difficult situations.
But that short sentence may not explain how much help the person actually needs or how difficult some days have become.
During the assessment, describe the person's care challenges accurately and concretely.
If some days are much more difficult than others, explain that.
Do not exaggerate the situation.
But do not minimize difficult days simply because there are easier days too.
Concrete examples can help explain what daily life actually looks like.
Questions You Can Ask During the Assessment
You can ask questions during the assessment.
You do not have to understand all of the terminology before the conversation begins.
Depending on the situation, you can ask:
Participating in the care plan
Having someone participate with you
Access to the care plan
Language or interpretation support
Reassessment if needs change
Write your questions down beforehand if that helps.
You do not have to remember everything during one conversation.
My Home Care Journey
Keep track of what you've reviewed and questions you still want to ask.
What Happens After the Assessment?
After the assessment, the results and possible care or service options can be discussed with you.
From there, care planning and service coordination may follow depending on the assessment and the person's circumstances.
An assessment begins the process of understanding what support may apply. It does not guarantee a particular service, funding amount or number of care hours.
If you later need help understanding the different ways home care may be arranged, KYR's:
This resource will explain those options separately.
You do not need to learn all of them before asking for an assessment.
If Needs Change Later
A person's needs do not always stay the same.
If their circumstances or health needs significantly change after home care is already in place, contact the appropriate continuing-care contact or Case Manager and ask about reassessment.
You can explain what has changed and provide concrete examples.
KYR's separate resource:
This resource will provide more detailed guidance about preparing for that conversation.
What Can I Do Next?
If you think you or someone you care for may need publicly funded help at home:
Call Health Link at 811
You can say:
or:
Remember:
- You do not need a physician referral to begin requesting an assessment.
- Have basic healthcare-card and contact information ready.
- Think about the person's actual daily care challenges.
- Describe those challenges clearly and accurately.
- Write down questions you want to ask.
- Ask how you can participate in care planning.
- Ask for interpretation support if you need it.
- If circumstances significantly change later, ask whom to contact about reassessment.
Most importantly:
You do not need to understand the whole home-care system before you make the first call.
Start with the question.
Important Educational Notice
Knowing Your Rights provides Alberta plain-language educational information to help seniors, caregivers and families understand home-care pathways and ask clearer questions.
This resource does not determine eligibility, prescribe care, determine service hours, make medical decisions, provide legal advice, or guarantee assessment results, services or funding.
Individual decisions about assessment, eligibility, care planning and services belong to the appropriate Alberta continuing-care professionals and programs.
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