Families navigating care options for a loved one frequently encounter both terms: "home care" and "home health care." They sound similar. They’re often used as if they mean the same thing. They don’t. Understanding the distinction is essential before you start calling providers.
What is non-medical home care?
Non-medical home care — also called personal care, companion care, or private duty home care — provides assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). This is the kind of care that helps a person stay safely and comfortably at home without requiring a nurse or therapist.
Non-medical home care typically includes:
- Bathing, dressing, grooming, and personal hygiene
- Toileting and incontinence care
- Mobility assistance and safe transfers
- Meal preparation and feeding assistance
- Light housekeeping and laundry
- Companionship and social engagement
- Transportation to appointments and errands
- Verbal medication reminders (not administration)
- Respite care for family caregivers
In Georgia, non-medical home care providers are licensed by the Georgia Department of Community Health as Private Home Care Providers (PHCPs). No physician’s order is required to start non-medical home care — families can arrange it directly with a licensed provider.
What is home health care?
Home health care is skilled medical care delivered in the home by licensed clinicians: registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and medical social workers.
Home health care typically includes:
- Skilled nursing visits for wound care, IV therapy, or catheter management
- Post-surgical monitoring and assessment
- Medication administration and management
- Physical therapy and occupational therapy in the home
- Speech therapy
- Disease management for complex chronic conditions
Home health care usually requires a physician’s order and is often prescribed after a hospital stay or surgery. It is typically time-limited — the goal is clinical improvement or stabilization, not ongoing daily support.
In Georgia, home health agencies are separately licensed and regulated. They are distinct from Private Home Care Providers.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Non-Medical Home Care | Home Health Care |
|---|---|---|
| Provider type | Private Home Care Provider (PHCP) | Home Health Agency (HHA) |
| Staff | Personal care aides, home health aides | RNs, LPNs, PTs, OTs, SLPs |
| Physician order required? | No | Usually yes |
| What it covers | ADLs, companionship, housekeeping | Skilled nursing, therapy, wound care |
| Duration | Ongoing, as long as needed | Episode-based, time-limited |
| Medicare coverage? | Generally no | Yes, if criteria met |
| Who needs it | Seniors, adults with disabilities, recovery | Post-surgical, medically complex |
Can I have both at the same time?
Yes. Non-medical home care and home health care can run concurrently and often complement each other well. A person recovering from hip surgery might receive skilled PT visits three times a week through a home health agency, while also receiving daily personal care, meal prep, and companionship from a non-medical home care provider.
The two services have separate authorizations and separate providers. Neither interferes with the other. In fact, having a non-medical caregiver present daily can improve the effectiveness of skilled care by ensuring the client stays safe, nourished, and mobile between clinical visits.
Which one does my family need?
Ask one question: does my loved one need a licensed nurse or therapist, or do they need someone to help with the practical parts of daily life?
- If the answer is daily living help — bathing, dressing, meals, mobility, companionship — you need non-medical home care.
- If the answer is clinical care — wound management, IV therapy, post-surgical monitoring, physical therapy — you need a home health agency, likely with a physician’s order.
- If the answer is both — arrange both, with each provider aware of the other.
Joy Bridge Care provides non-medical home care in Georgia
Joy Bridge Care is a Georgia-licensed Private Home Care Provider. We provide personal care, daily living support, companionship, medication reminders, and respite care — all non-medical services. We serve families in Buford, Gwinnett County, Braselton, Winder, DeKalb County, and surrounding Georgia communities.