Personal Care Homes are small residential environments. As opposed to the larger Assisted Living Community, the Personal Care Home usually has a more “home-like” feel. Personal Care Homes usually serve anywhere from 3 to 12 individual residents. If the home has 3 or less individual residents, they do not have to go through licensing in the State of Texas. If they have 4 or more residents, they are required to license their home through the State as either Type “A” or Type “B.”
Type “A” routinely accommodates residents who are ambulatory and able to self-evacuate in the event of an emergency with minimal assistance. The resident must be able to walk using a cane or walker, if necessary or may use a wheelchair if able to transfer themselves and propel themselves throughout the home.
Type “B” can accommodate the resident who may need more assistance, such as with eating or transferring to a wheelchair. The State requires an overhead sprinkler system in the Type B Community. Residents who are bedridden, wheelchair-bound, or who need a lot of support either physically or mentally are often more appropriate for this smaller type of environment.
The focus in this type of environment is the provision of “custodial” or non- medical care. A caregiver is available both day and night to assist residents with activities of daily living to include medication management, transferring, bathing, grooming, dressing, & incontinence care when needed. In some Personal Care Homes, the caregivers also perform household tasks such as cooking, housekeeping, and laundry. Although the Personal Care Home is not a “skilled” environment, feeding tubes, diabetic injections, colostomy care, etc. can be considered routine daily care through the use of community partners, such as Home Health, Hospice, Geriatric Physicians, and Nurse Practitioners who visit regularly.
Dansa Senior Services has a list of carefully vetted personal care homes throughout the greater Houston and surrounding areas. Call us at 832-655-4443 or contact us at [email protected], and we will help you with options best suited for your loved one.