While there are a great number of home health care services available in California—offering everything from health care to personal care to nutrition to social and safety needs—not all services are available in every community. And not every medical and personal services need can be met by every agency.

Home health care involves skilled nursing or therapy services, which differentiates it from home care. Home care, on the other hand, includes only care to assist with the activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and walking.

	See "Additional Care Programs" for a description of Home Care Services and the In-Home Supportive Services program.

This section of the Web site offers the guidance and tools necessary for you to evaluate your needs and choose the agency that best suits your needs.

• Payment offers information on the various options for paying for the care.

• Know Your Rights outlines the legal rights of home health care patients and their families.

• Additional Help provides a list of resources to turn to for additional help.

• About the Ratings tells you how we rate the agencies. All home health care agencies are rated for quality of agency measures; only Medicare-certified agencies are rated for quality of care measures.

	For more information on choosing home health care, see "A Guide to Choosing a Home Health Agency."

If you decide that home health care does not meet your needs, information on nursing facilities, hospice services, and a range of other care options is also available through the sections on the left side of this page.

If you'd like to go directly to ratings for home health care, choose "Home Health Care" from the drop-down menu at the top of this page and enter a Zip Code, or click on "More Search Options" for other ways to find an agency.