Van Nuys : Rally Will Promote Home Health Care

Health-care providers will extol the increased patient dignity and comfort available through home care at a Valley College rally Friday.

Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) and representatives of the American Assn. of Retired People, the Alzheimer’s Assn. and the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging will be among the speakers at “The Future Is Home Care” rally.

Home health care can encompass anything from a diabetic receiving daily insulin shots to AIDS or Alzheimer’s patients using 24-hour hospice care.

Nurses, physical therapists, social workers and dentists all provide some home care, according to Cathy Kort, a spokeswoman for Accountable HomeCare Providers.

The rally is designed to promote home care as a patient option regardless of any changes that Congress might make to Medicare or Medicaid, Kort said.

“We believe that young and old alike have a right to say that they don’t want to be in a nursing home or in a hospital. There is a right to have a whole range of services [available] at home,” she said.

And home care is cost-effective, she said.

“Studies have shown that people will recover much more quickly in the comfort of their own homes,” she said. “And there’s a cost benefit to the public when there’s a speedier recovery and a shorter hospital stay.”

The gathering coincides with National Home Health Care Week, which runs through Sunday. The rally, which is open to the public, begins at noon at the Valley College quad, 5800 Fulton Ave., Van Nuys.