Home Respiratory Care

What you'll learn

Course overview

Patient care provided in the home environment has evolved as significant changes in medical care delivery have occurred over the past few decades. Prior to World War II, medical care was primarily a home affair, with doctors and nurses visiting the patient in the home, and hospital-based care reserved primarily for the severely ill. After World War II, as medical diagnosis and therapy became more sophisticated and intensive, of necessity it was delivered primarily in medical care facilities, such as hospitals, medical offices, and clinics. However, in the 1980s, the home care movement reemerged for an entirely different purpose and with a whole new set of caregivers. As health care delivery continues to advance and efforts to control healthcare costs continue, more patients are being cared for at home or at other non-clinical places for their convalescence. Home care is now being provided primarily by patients' family members and non-clinical personnel. Many of the patients (ranging from newborns to the elderly) rely on medical devices for treatment or to sustain life. There is a broad range of capabilities and limitations in the population of potential medical device users and their caregivers. Limitations are both cognitive and physical. The current process whereby decisions about releasing patients from hospitals to home care are frequently made without adequate assessment of the capability of the home caregivers or the suitability of the home environment. Furthermore, home care is going on outside of the control or supervision of regulated agencies.