Home Care for the Elderly in Philadelphia: Services, Programs, and Getting Started

“Home care for the elderly” is the search families type when their parent has crossed a threshold — they can’t manage alone anymore, and the family needs to figure out what comes next. In Philadelphia, what comes next is a system designed to keep your parent at home with daily support, often at no cost.

What Elderly Home Care Includes

The term covers daily living help that becomes necessary as aging takes hold: bathing assistance when the shower becomes unsafe, dressing help when buttons and zippers become unmanageable, meal preparation when cooking becomes a fire risk, medication management when the pill organizer stops being enough, mobility support when falls become a real danger, and housekeeping when maintaining a clean home exceeds physical capacity.

In Philadelphia, these services are provided through home care agencies like CareChoice—either through agency-employed aides or through family members hired as paid caregivers.

The Programs That Serve Philadelphia Seniors

Community HealthChoices (CHC) is the primary pathway. If your parent is on Medicaid and needs daily help, CHC funds personal care, homemaker services, respite, adult day, and more through three MCOs in the Southeast Zone.

VA programs serve veterans through the Homemaker/HHA program, Veteran-Directed HCBS, and Aid and Attendance.

Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) provides information, referrals, caregiver support, and assessment coordination for all Philadelphia seniors — the best first call at (215) 765-9040.

Signs Your Parent Needs Home Care

In our experience, families often wait too long. The signs that home care should start: your parent has fallen more than once in the past six months. They’ve lost weight because they’re not eating regularly. The house is noticeably less clean than it used to be. Mail is piling up.  Medications are missed or doubled. They’re isolating — not answering the phone, not seeing friends, not leaving the house.

If you’re recognizing these signs, the time to act is now — not after the next fall or the next hospitalization.

Getting Started

Check Medicaid eligibility→ call PCA at (215) 765-9040→ enroll in CHC→ get assessed→ choose CareChoice → start services.

Contact CareChoice → Philadelphia team

Written by Shamere Dunswell, Community Relations Manager | CareChoice