1. What is a Plan of Care?

A Plan of Care provides direction on the type of care the individual may need. Lovely Heart Home Care will establish a plan for the client after an initial assessment is done, in consultation with the client and his or her family members or representative. The Plan of Care will outline the services to be provided to the client and will include, but not limited to, the level, type and/or scope of services the client is to receive, information relating to circumstances that may have an impact on activity or involvement by the client, such as basic information on medications being taken, treatments received, client's physician, activity, functional limitations, diet and mental status.  The Plan of Care may be modified as desired by the client or as needed by Lovely Heart Home Care. The changes will be confirmed with the client, caregiver and Lovely Heart Home Care agency manager.

2. What are ADLs and IADLs?

The term "activities of daily living," or ADLs, refers to the basic tasks of everyday life, such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and personal hygiene.

 "Instrumental activities of daily living," or IADLs are activities related to independent living and include preparing meals, managing personal finances, managing medications, shopping for groceries or personal items, performing housework such as laundry, and other basic home maintenance, handling transportation (driving or navigating public transit), and using the telephone and other communication devices.

Together, ADLs and IADLs represent the skills that people usually need to be able to manage in order to live as independant adults. Measuring an individual's ability to perform ADLs and IADLs is important in determining the level of assistance required by an older person on a day-to-day basis.

Lovely Heart Home Care will assist you to determine the level of care your loved one needs and/or requires through a comprehensive functional assessment of their ADLs and IADLs by a qualified and competent staff.

3. My privacy is an utmost concern to me. Does the home care agency ensures the client's confidentiality?

All Lovely Heart Home Care employees are trained on policies and procedures to protect the privacy of each client in accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Lovely Heart Home Care provides each client a "Notice of Privacy Practices" to ensure that their right to privacy is well protected.

4.  Is my caregiver trained and competent to take care of me?

Lovely Heart Home Care caregivers have an initial training in compliance with the state regulations as well as on-going competency exams. Each caregiver must successfully complete additional training annually.  The training includes hands on demonstrations, self-study module, handouts, DVD's, seminar/class on pertinent elderly care topics and individual training for the specific and unique needs of the client receiving care.

5. Is my caregiver supervised?

Yes, Lovely Heart Home Care has 24 hour on-call personnel to supervise your caregivers. The on-call personnel is available by calling (312) 622-2921. Furthermore, Lovely Heart Home Care schedules a supervisory visit from a Registered Nurse every 60 days to evaluate the care and services being rendered.

6. What happens if my caregiver gets injured at work?

All Lovely Heart Home Care employees are covered by Worker's Compensation insurance.

7. What if my caregiver is ill or on vacation?

If your caregiver is unavailable, we will arrange for immediate coverage to ensure that there will be no interruption in your care.

8.  Is the home care agency licensed and compliant with the  applicable laws and state regulations?

Lovely Heart Home Care is fully compliant with the Requirements of the Illinois Home Health, Home Services and Home Nursing Agency Licensing Act [210 ILCS 55] and the Health Care  Worker Background Check Act [225 ILCS 46]. Lovely Heart Home Care is a home services agency licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). It conducts a criminal background check on all employees, and as an employer is liable for taxes, unemployment insurance, workers compensation and social security taxes for the employees. All Lovely Heart Home Care employees are informed about the company's policies and procedures including HIPAA.

9. How does the home care agency handle complaints of abuse and neglect?

Clients have the right to be free from mental, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, neglect and exploitation. When abuse or neglect is suspected or identified, the employee/client is to immediately report the complaint to the Agency Manager at 312-243-7501.  The Agency Manager/designee will review the information presented and investigate if this is a reportable incident. If so, the information will then be reported to the appropriate county social service Agency.