Personal Care Homes (PCHs) are residences that provide shelter, meals, supervision and assistance with personal care tasks, typically for older people, or people with physical, behavioral health, or cognitive disabilities who are unable to care for themselves but do not need nursing home or medical care. While available services vary and are based on the individual needs of each resident, services provided at a typical PCH include assistance with:
- Eating/drinking
- Walking/getting in and out of bed or chair
- Toileting/bowel and bladder management
- Bathing
- Personal hygiene
- Arranging for and managing health care
- Making/keeping doctor’s appointments
- Assisting with or administering medications
- Positioning in bed or chair
- Doing laundry
- Arranging for transportation
- Shopping/managing finances
- Using the telephone/writing letters
- Caring for possessions
- Participating in social/recreational activities
- Using prosthetics
- Getting and caring for seasonal clothes
Personal Care Homes are inspected and licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. They are usually privately-owned, although some are operated by local governments or non-profit agencies. In Pennsylvania, homes may be licensed to care for as few as four people and as many as several hundred.