When using the Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly (CCSV) in Hong Kong, families may need to decide what type of homecare support best fits the older person’s current needs. Some may mainly need help with daily activities, while others require professional nursing care or rehabilitation after a stroke, fall, surgery or hospital stay. CCSV services can be combined and adjusted over time, with three common areas of support being personal care, nursing care and home rehabilitation.

For most families, these needs can be broadly understood in three areas: personal care, professional nursing care and home rehabilitation.

CCSV: Personal Care

Personal care is usually most suitable when an older person is medically stable but needs help with everyday activities. Support may include:

• - Assistance with eating
• - Bathing and personal hygiene
• - Toileting or changing incontinence pads
• - Dressing
• - Getting in and out of bed and transferring between positions
• - Support with basic daily activities

The Social Welfare Department also includes feeding, transfers, bathing, toileting, changing incontinence pads and dressing within the scope of personal care services.

In simple terms, personal care is most relevant when the main issue is needing help with daily living, rather than having complex medical or nursing needs.

CCSV: Professional Nursing Care

When an older person’s needs involve a medical condition, wound, catheter, medication or ongoing health monitoring, professional nursing care may be more appropriate. Common needs include:

• - Post-operative or chronic wound care
• - Pressure injury care
• - Stoma care
• - Urinary catheter, PICC, implanted Port A or other line care
• - Vital-sign and general health monitoring
• - Medication-related and other nursing care according to medical instructions
• - Ongoing professional monitoring after hospital discharge

CCSV homecare services also include nursing care provided by Enrolled Nurses or Registered Nurses.

A simple way to distinguish the two is this: personal care helps with everyday activities the older person can no longer manage independently, while nursing care addresses medical or clinical needs.

Some older adults may need both. For example, a person with a urinary catheter may require nursing care for the catheter while also needing assistance with bathing, eating and toileting. In this situation, different services can be combined according to need.

CCSV: Home Rehabilitation

Another common concern is declining mobility or physical function. Home rehabilitation may be useful for older adults who:

• - Have reduced mobility after a stroke
• - Are recovering from a fall or fracture
• - Have become weaker after surgery or a prolonged hospital stay
• - Have difficulty standing up or getting in and out of bed
• - Walk unsteadily or have an increased risk of falling
• - Have started using a walking stick or walking frame
• - Have experienced a noticeable decline in everyday function

In these situations, daily care alone may not be enough. Home rehabilitation can help address mobility and functional problems.

CCSV services include rehabilitation exercises provided by physiotherapists or occupational therapists. Relevant professionals may also assess home safety and recommend modifications where needed.

Physiotherapy generally focuses on areas such as strength, balance, gait and mobility. Occupational therapy looks more closely at everyday function, assistive devices and the home environment, with the aim of helping the older person live more safely and independently.

Personal Care, Nursing or Rehabilitation: Which Service Is More Suitable?

An older person’s needs do not always fit neatly into a single category. A practical way to choose is to look at the main difficulty they are currently facing.

One of the advantages of CCSV is that services do not have to be limited to a single category. Older adults can select and adjust the type and amount of support according to their changing needs.

Care Needs Can Change Over Time

The right combination of services may change as an older person’s health and functional ability change. For example, someone who has just returned home after a stroke may initially need:

• - A nurse to manage a urinary catheter or other medical needs
• - A physiotherapist to work on standing and walking
• - A care worker to assist with bathing, eating and toileting

As the person becomes medically more stable, catheters are removed and mobility improves, nursing visits may gradually be reduced while rehabilitation or personal care is adjusted accordingly.

The reverse can also happen. If a new wound develops, mobility declines further or another health problem arises, the care plan may need to be reviewed again.

The key is therefore not to use the voucher for one fixed service indefinitely, but to match the service mix to the older person’s current care priorities and level of need.

YDCare can arrange personal care, nursing and home rehabilitation services according to an older person’s health, mobility and daily care needs. As these needs change, the service combination can also be reviewed and adjusted so that CCSV support remains appropriate at different stages of care.

Read More:

Supporting Older Adults Living Alone: Using CCSV for Home Care, Nursing and Daily Support

Home Nursing with CCSV: Wound Care, Stoma Care Support and Cost Savings