Personal Care Services (PCS)
Personal Care Services That Help You Stay Independent
When everyday tasks become more challenging, you don’t have to manage them alone. Personal Care Services are designed to help you remain safe, comfortable, and independent in your own home.
Your Care Management Team will work with you to understand your needs and arrange for a qualified personal care aide from a licensed home care agency. The services you receive are based on a written plan of care that is personalized to your health, daily routine, and goals.
If you qualify and prefer a more familiar caregiver, you may have options. Through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Services (CDPAS) program, you may be able to choose someone you know and trust—such as a friend, neighbor, former aide, or, in some cases, a family member—to provide your care. Your Care Management Team can help determine if CDPAS is right for you and guide you through the process.
PCS Covers Two Levels of Care
Level 1: Support Around the Home
Level 1 focuses on the environmental and nutritional tasks that keep your home running and your meals on the table:
- Making and changing beds
- Light cleaning of the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom
- Dusting and vacuuming
- Dishwashing and laundry (including ironing and mending)
- Shopping, listing needed supplies, and paying bills when no one else is available.
- Preparing meals, including simple modified diets (low-salt, low-sugar, low-fat, low-residue)
Level 2 : Hands-On Personal Care
Level 2 includes everything in Level 1, plus direct personal care with your daily activities:
- Bathing (in bed, tub, or shower), dressing, and grooming
- Toileting, including help with a bedpan, commode, or toilet
- Walking, transferring from bed to chair or wheelchair, turning, and positioning
- Feeding and preparing meals for modified diets
- Help with medication reminders, routine skin care, medical supplies, and simple dressing changes
Services must be medically necessary, essential to your health and safety at home, and provided under a plan of care your Care Management Team develops with you. Prior authorization is required.
Family and friends can help. If a family member or friend provides some of your care informally, your aide’s schedule is built to complement — not replace — the people already supporting you.