High-quality home care should be universal, no matter where it is being delivered, who is delivering it or who is receiving it. Recognizing the limitations of the Canada Health Act—home care is not an insured service—our members identified a need to outline national principles for home care. As a result, we created the Harmonized Principles for Home Care after an extensive engagement and consultation process.
The Harmonized Home Care Principles outline the fundamentals of home care programs without prescribing how services are funded, administered or delivered. Broadly endorsed by governments, administrators and providers of home and community care, the principles provide a framework to link policy, programming and frontline service delivery. The result is the delivery of consistent, high-quality services within and across jurisdictions. The principles align with and reinforce operational quality standards such as the Health Standards Organization’s (HSO) Home Care Services and Home Support Services Standards and CARF Canada’s Aging Services Standards.