Navigate your province's home care assessment with confidence. Know what you're entitled to, how to advocate effectively, and what to do if the outcome falls short of your needs.
Most families don't know what they're entitled to until it's too late to advocate effectively. By the time the assessor visits — whether from Ontario Health at Home, AHS Continuing Care, Health PEI, or your regional health authority — the decisions have often already been shaped by what you said, or didn't say, in the first few minutes.
This guide was written to change that. It walks you through exactly what the assessment process looks like across Canada, what assessors are actually evaluating, and how to present your situation in a way that reflects your true needs.
It covers the full journey: preparing for your first assessment, understanding your funding decision, and appealing if you feel the outcome was wrong.
Applies across Canada: While program names differ by province, the core assessment principles — what assessors evaluate, how to describe your situation, how to appeal — are consistent nationwide. A provincial resource guide is included with every purchase, with program names and key phone numbers for every province and territory.
Adult children trying to get their parent set up with home care, seniors going through an assessment for the first time anywhere in Canada, and anyone who has already received a funding decision and isn't sure if it's right. You don't need any background in healthcare to use it.
Ian spent over 30 years working inside Canada's home care system — including direct experience with home care assessments from both sides. He wrote this guide because the system is designed for professionals, not for families — and that needed to change.