By: Elaine Lin, MD, FAAP
Home health care is a range of services that support healthy living at home. Children get medical services they need—like therapy, personal care and nursing to help them thrive at home.
Read on to find out if home health care is right for your child.
Who can get home health care?
Children who have complex medical needs or use medical equipment often can get the highest level of care, such as a registered nurse,
at home. A child with a
disability, chronic medical condition or
medically complex condition may also be able to get home health care if it will help keep them stable or improve their health.
How to get home health services for your child
Your child's primary care pediatrician or the team that is taking care of your child at the hospital can make a home care referral. Before your child leaves the hospital, their care team should go over the services that your child and family need to ensure safe care of your child at home.
Types of home health care providers & what they can do
The types of service and who can provide them may vary, depending on where you live. The home health care providers may work for an agency or organization, or they may be someone you have found on your own.
Private duty nurse
| Registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) | Give medications (including intravenous [IV] medications), IV nutrition or tube feeding; check vital signs and track health; provide respiratory care (ventilator care, suctioning, chest physiotherapy, nebulizer treatments); ostomy or catheter care |
Intermittent skilled nurse | Registered nurse or licensed practical nurse | Short-term visits (especially during times when your child's care plan is changing) to check vital signs, track health, review care plan; teach about medication or equipment; give medications, IV nutrition, tube feeding; provide respiratory care; perform ostomy or catheter care |
Personal care assistant | Training program and competency required in most states | Bathe, dress, prepare meals, set up medication reminders, mobility assistance |
Home health aide/attendant or certified nursing assistant | Training program and competency required with licensing | Personal care, help with walking, give medication, simple health care tasks such as checking temperature or blood pressure |
Paid family caregiver | Family member who has received formal or informal training | Personal care, unskilled care and skilled tasks that a nurse may teach or supervise |
Respite care worker | Training and certification are required in some states | Short-term relief for primary caregiver(s); respite care workers may or may not give medical care depending on their training |
Habilitative service therapists | Completion of therapy-specific education and certification | Therapy and treatments to keep, learn or improve skills (for example: physical therapy, speech therapy) |
Other home health care workers | Training and certification based on specialty | Variable (for example: care from a respiratory therapist or mental health specialist) |
Help with changes to your child's care plan
As your child's health needs change, your pediatrician and
care coordinator can support you in finding the right local services. It is important that everyone in your child's
medical home knows about updates to the
care plan—including when you are being discharged home from the hospital and when home health care needs and services change. If you have any questions, reach out to your pediatrician. They are here to support your child's healthy growth and development.
More information
About Dr. Lin
 Elaine Lin, MD, FAAP, is chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Home Care. Dr. Lin is a primary care and complex care pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She enjoys seeing patients in their home and is passionate about ensuring families have access to high quality home and community services.
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