Options for In-Home Care Providers

With the growing age of Baby Boomers, the need for home health and personal care is at an all-time high in the United States.

Fortunately, many options are available for Stone County residents who are considering in-home care, and new legislation will widen the field even further.

Where in-home care agencies were previously allowed to serve clients up to 50 miles from their office, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 811 this year, extending that to a 100-mile radius.

Kim Hudspeth, service coordinator for Community Best Care, works in a Batesville office but coordinates care for several clients in Stone County.

While her office in Batesville currently serves the Mountain View area, they are unable to reach some areas of Stone County, but the new law will extend the range to include the entire county.

“That gives them a lot more options. It did kind of limit smaller entities,” she said.

Hudspeth shared some general statistics about the in-home care industry, noting that almost 10,000 seniors in the United States turn 65 every day. As a general rule, most of them want to age in their homes and not in a nursing home setting, she said, and since 2015 more money has been spent annually for in-home care than nursing home care.

“People are more comfortable in their own home than they are in nursing homes. The good thing about personal care is that it takes care of them in their environment,” Hudspeth said.

This is causing enormous growth in home-health and personal care, with 2.8 million jobs added in this industry between 2006 and 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This growth rate is only expected to increase by 41 percent through 2026.

This fact is what is causing enormous growth of the home-health and personal care industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2006 through 2016, 2.8 million jobs were added in this industry. This growth rate is expected to increase by 41 percent through 2026, an increase over seven times faster than the rest of themployment economy.

As a result, qualified in-home caregivers are in high demand.