A Celebration of National Care at Home Month
November is National Care at Home Month, and throughout the month, SDAHO is highlighting several areas of home-based care. For the week of November 9–15, we celebrate Home Care Week — a time to recognize the caregivers and professionals who help individuals live safely, independently, and comfortably wherever they call home.
Home care provides essential home-based and living support services for people of all ages, offering both medical and non-medical assistance to promote health, independence, and connection. Home health care focuses on medical and supportive services provided in a patient’s home to help them recover from illness or injury, manage chronic conditions, or prevent hospitalization. It is often more convenient, affordable, and just as effective as care received in a hospital or skilled nursing facility.
The roots of both hospice and home care date back to 1963, when Dame Cicely Saunders delivered a groundbreaking lecture at Yale University about specialized care for those nearing the end of life. Two years later, she joined the Yale School of Nursing faculty at the invitation of Dean Florence Wald, and the hospice movement began to grow rapidly. By 1975, the first National Symposium on Hospice Care was held in Connecticut, followed by the establishment of the National Hospice Organization (NHO) in 1979. Over the decades, advocacy, education, and legislation have continued to expand access and awareness for both hospice and home care services.
This week — and every week — we celebrate and raise awareness of the compassionate work being done by hospice and home care professionals across the country.
Learn more about National Care at Home Month at The Alliance for Care at Home.
For more information or to connect with SDAHO’s palliative and hospice care expert, contact Michele.Snyders@sdaho.org
