Light housekeeping
Dishes, wiped counters, a swept kitchen floor and a tidy bathroom, with clutter kept off the paths the person walks.
Private home care · Winnipeg
Additional Support Services in Winnipeg
Health Care Aides (HCAs) cook, clean, shop and go along to appointments for older adults living at home.
A Registered Nurse writes each job into a care plan, and nursing support is available 24/7 to clients, families and aides.
Free in-home assessment. No obligation.
Signs at Home
When the Housework Falls Behind
Families often notice the kitchen first: a fridge holding little besides condiments, dishes stacked in the sink for days, or crackers and cheese standing in for supper. Mail sits unopened, the laundry basket overflows, and a parent who has given up driving starts cancelling checkups.
Our local team sends Health Care Aides across Winnipeg and surrounding area to handle that work. A Registered Nurse comes by first, lists the jobs that matter most and how often each one needs doing, and the aide follows that plan.
HCAs also help with bathing, dressing and moving safely, so the chores and any personal care can happen in one visit. Integracare has worked in home care since 1991.
Talk through your optionsOn the List
Household Jobs an Aide Can Do
Pick the ones you need. The nurse writes them into the plan with a day and time for each.
Laundry and bedding
Clothes washed, folded and put away, and clean sheets and towels on the days the plan names.
Cooking
Breakfast, lunch or supper made the way the person likes it. Extra portions go into the fridge, labelled for later.
Groceries and errands
A shopping list written together, a trip to the store, and prescriptions collected from the pharmacy.
Appointments and events
Help getting ready, company on the outing and someone to stay until it is time to head home.
Reminders
Prompts to take medication on schedule and to drink water through the day.
Meals
Food Planned Around the Person's Tastes
At the assessment, tell the nurse which dishes the person enjoys, what they refuse and any diet a doctor has prescribed. The HCA shops and cooks from that information and reports any drop in appetite.
An aide can sit at the table with a coffee while the person eats lunch, or go along to lunch with friends.
On days without a visit, the person can eat the meals the aide cooked ahead.
Appointments
Company at Medical Appointments
A January checkup can mean boots, a parka, an icy front step and a long sit in a crowded lobby. An HCA can help from start to finish: dressing for the cold, the walk out to the ride, the time at the clinic and settling back in at home.
If Winnipeg Transit Plus has registered the person to travel with an attendant, an Integracare HCA can be that attendant. The attendant rides free, and the HCA can have the person dressed and ready before pickup.
Give the HCA a list of questions to bring, and the answers go into the visit notes. Aides can also go along to events the person does not want to miss: a grandchild's recital, a funeral or lunch with former coworkers.
Public Home Care
How Private Help Fits With WRHA Home Care
Winnipeg's publicly funded home care comes from WRHA Home Care. If a case coordinator's assessment finds a person eligible, its services may include household maintenance, meal assistance and personal laundry. WRHA calls the staff who do this work home support workers.
WRHA Home Care allows up to 4 short visits a day for scheduled tasks, often by different staff, and none overnight. Outings and company fall outside its list of home care services, so the family has to arrange those.
Eligibility takes account of the help a person already gets from family and community resources. Under Manitoba's home care guide, each client and family is responsible for having a backup plan and putting it to use when needed.
Private HCA hours can serve as that backup, or add errands, outings and extra housework on days without public visits.
Before the First Visit
Details to Settle With the Nurse
Bring these to the in-home assessment so they go into the written plan.
Priorities
Which chores come first, which can wait, and which ones the person wants to keep doing.
Shopping
The usual grocery store, favourite brands and the pharmacy that fills prescriptions.
Kitchen
Food allergies and where the pots, pans and cleaning supplies are kept.
Appointments
A calendar of what is coming up, the clinic addresses and who books each ride.
Getting in
How the aide enters the home, where a spare key is kept, and who to call if no one comes to the door.
Family updates
Which relatives to invite to the Family Room to follow the schedule and the aide's notes.
Tell Us Which Jobs Need Covering
Call or send the form. A Registered Nurse visits to list the tasks and set the days for each one.
Local Resources
Other Household Help in Winnipeg
Other organizations run these programs. Each sets its own rules, and Integracare is separate from all of them.
A & O: Support Services for Older Adults runs SafetyAid, a free fall-prevention program for adults 65 and older in Winnipeg. It includes a fall-risk check at a Fall Clinic, a 24-week exercise and education group, and a home assessment. Call A & O at (204) 956-6440.
For other community programs near you, call 211 Manitoba.
Good to Know
What Families Ask About Household Help
Does housekeeping include yard work or heavy cleaning?
No. Visits cover light housekeeping: the everyday jobs that keep rooms clean and safe.
Can an aide go with my parent to a specialist?
Yes. The HCA helps the person get ready, travels with them to the appointment and waits until it ends. Anything the family should hear about goes into the visit notes.
Do you go with clients to appointments outside the city?
Yes. Integracare serves Winnipeg and surrounding area, and an HCA can go along to appointments there.
I live in another province. How will I know the errands got done?
Ask us to invite you to the Family Room. It shows when each visit is booked and the notes the HCA writes, so you can see that groceries were bought and appointments kept.
Other Services
More Care in Winnipeg
Home Care in Winnipeg
Health Care Aides in Winnipeg
Respite Care in Winnipeg
Dementia Care in Winnipeg
24-Hour Home Care in Winnipeg
Stroke Care in Winnipeg
We also provide additional support services in Greater Toronto and additional support services in Ottawa.
Free In-Home Assessment
Ask About Everyday Help in Winnipeg
List the chores, meals and appointments that are hard to keep up with. Our team replies within one business day to book the nurse's visit.
Prefer to talk?
Winnipeg(204) 977-7575 ↗Toll-free1 (800) 891-4197 ↗We serve families across Greater Winnipeg. See the areas we cover
Clinically reviewed by Bethel McMaster, BScN, RN ·