Personal Care Services in Allentown and Wilkes-Barre, PA
Pennsylvania defines personal care in a single sentence, and “giving medication” is not in it. What is in it: help with bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, transfers, walking, eating and self-administered medications (28 Pa. Code § 611.5). That is the personal care Allentown and Wilkes-Barre families ask Home Care Concepts for when a parent can no longer manage the body’s daily routine alone. The caregiver’s hands take over the part that has become unsafe. The person keeps doing everything she still can.
What personal care Allentown agencies provide
A caregiver who provides these tasks must be trained and tested in each one before her first visit, with a yearly competency review (28 Pa. Code § 611.55).
| Task | What the caregiver does |
|---|---|
| Bathing and skin care | Shower, tub, bed or sponge bath; checks water temperature; watches for redness |
| Grooming | Hair, electric-razor shaving, nails, mouth and denture care |
| Dressing | Lays out clothes; helps with buttons, socks, shoes, compression stockings |
| Toileting and incontinence | Getting to the toilet on time, cleaning up, briefs and pads, skin checks |
| Transfers and walking | Bed to chair, chair to toilet, in and out of the car, with a gait belt or Hoyer lift |
| Eating | Sets up the meal, cuts food, cues, hand-over-hand help |
| Self-administered medications | Brings the organizer, reminds at the right time, records that the dose was taken |
Home Care Concepts handles all levels of personal care, including physical disabilities, and trains its caregivers on transfers and Hoyer lift use. Our guide to personal care at home covers each task, including bathing with dementia.
What personal care does not include
Pennsylvania licenses home care agencies for non-skilled services (PA Department of Health). A personal care aide does not decide doses, give injections or insulin, dress open wounds, handle catheters or feeding tubes, or adjust oxygen. Those need a nurse under a physician’s order: home health, not home care. Medicare covers a home health aide only alongside that skilled care, never personal care “when this is the only care you need” (Medicare.gov).
Who personal care is for
Anyone who needs help with one or more of the six activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence and eating. Bathing is usually the first to go. If your parent only needs company, meals and errands, companion care is enough; our guide to companion care vs. personal care shows how to score the need at home. It also fits recovery after a hospital stay, dementia, and a family caregiver who needs respite from the morning routine.
How personal care starts
Before services begin, a licensed agency must give you in writing the services and who the caregiver is, the hours, the fees by hour or week, and the Department of Health complaint line, 1-866-826-3644 (28 Pa. Code § 611.57). You also have the right to take part in planning the service and to reasonable accommodation of your preferences. In a well-organized service that packet follows a home visit (bathroom, stairs, bed height, medication list, daily routine) and a written plan with tasks and hours. Once you request a caregiver, Home Care Concepts contacts you within 24 hours; non-emergency calls are monitored 24/7 and answered within two hours.
How personal care is paid
| Payer | How it works |
|---|---|
| Private pay | By the hour; Pennsylvania median $34 an hour in 2025 (CareScout, PDF). See nine ways to lower the cost. |
| Medicaid Community HealthChoices (CHC) | Personal assistance services for adults 21 and older who qualify (CHC benefits, PDF); a relative can be the paid caregiver. See how to get paid to care for a family member. |
| VA | Homemaker and Home Health Aide care, for enrolled veterans who meet the clinical criteria; a copay may apply (VA). See home care in Wilkes-Barre, home of the VA Medical Center. |
| Long-term care insurance | Tax-qualified policies pay once help with two activities of daily living is needed, after the elimination period (26 U.S.C. § 7702B). See how to activate a policy. |
| Medicare | Not for personal care alone; see does Medicare pay for home care. |
Home Care Concepts works with Medicaid Waiver and the VA as payer sources and accepts private pay.
Request personal care in Allentown or Wilkes-Barre. Tell us the tasks, the hours and how you plan to pay, and we will contact you within 24 hours. Or call (484) 894-7888.
Under Pennsylvania's home care rules: help with bathing, skin and mouth care, shaving, hair care, dressing, toileting, transfers, walking, feeding and self-administered medications. Hands-on, non-medical help with daily living from a caregiver trained and tested in those tasks.
No. The rule says "assistance with self-administered medications": the caregiver brings the organizer, reminds her at the right time and records the dose. Deciding doses, injections, insulin or anything through a tube requires a nurse under a doctor's order.
Not when it is the only care needed. Medicare covers a home health aide only while a nurse or therapist is also providing skilled care. On its own, personal care is paid privately, by Medicaid Community HealthChoices, by the VA or by a long-term care policy.
Yes. Pennsylvania gives every home care consumer the right to take part in service planning and to reasonable accommodation of preferences. Say so at the first visit: a same-sex caregiver for bathing, a Spanish-speaking caregiver or a fixed schedule are what the plan is built around.
Contact
-
2895 Hamilton Blvd, Suite 106
Allentown, PA 18104 -
16 S River St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701 - +1 (484) 894-7888
- info@hcareconcepts.com