4 Pathways and 5 Fruits for... Home Healthcare
Home care is no longer merely an optional support or a form of medical luxury; it has evolved into a comprehensive institutional system that directly contributes to alleviating pressure on public hospitals and preserves the dignity and quality of life of citizens within their family environment.
As the health system records an increase in citizens’ life expectancy, accompanied by rising rates of non-communicable chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, this new reality has necessitated the innovation of alternative care pathways that go beyond traditional care.
Indicators demonstrate the direct medical, economic, and social impact of expanding home care services since their launch in May 2022. Among the most notable outcomes are the reduction of prolonged hospitalizations by shortening unnecessary stays in hospital wards, thereby freeing up beds for critical and emergency cases. Additionally, waiting lists have been reduced by accelerating the pace of medical service delivery to patients and decreasing wait times for outpatients and hospital visitors.
Other benefits include bringing services closer to citizens, enhancing their psychological and physical well-being, and providing a practical model of integration and close coordination between primary health care (“clinics”) and sustainable community care. This approach implements the comprehensive health strategy across its three integrated pillars: prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Home care service pathways are distributed across all governorates, delivered by specialized, multidisciplinary teams comprising physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and pharmacists. These teams provide a wide range of advanced services to meet diverse patient needs, including:
• Advanced Nursing and Supportive Care: Nursing staff manage critical cases such as chronic pressure ulcers, perform medical dressings on complex post-surgical wounds, manage enteral nutrition, and insert medical catheters. They also provide clinical pharmacy services to ensure medication safety and prevent dangerous drug interactions, while assessing the safety of the patient’s home environment to avoid fall or injury risks.
• Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy: Specialized medical teams deliver intensive, customized rehabilitation sessions for stroke patients and accident victims. Services also include occupational therapy and therapeutic interventions to address swallowing and speech disorders, helping patients regain daily functioning and reduce physical dependence on their surroundings.
• Palliative Care: This humanitarian service targets patients in advanced stages of cancer and incurable diseases, aiming to alleviate their physical and psychological pain and symptoms within their families and familiar environments. It also provides psychological and social support to family members, alongside other specialized procedures tailored to the specifics of each case.
In line with the state’s rapid efforts toward digital transformation and the governance of public services, home health care services for bedridden individuals and the elderly were launched via the unified government electronic services application “Sahel,” in coordination with the Central Administration of Primary Health Care.
To govern this vital service and ensure its delivery according to the highest legal and professional standards, the Ministry issued a series of decisive regulatory decisions. Among the most prominent is the regulation of care for children, which mandates that teams adhere to medical guidelines issued by the Pediatric Departments Council, requires data documentation in the official file, and necessitates obtaining “informed consent” from the legal guardian.
The modern home care system has not been limited to actual field visits alone; it has kept pace with the technological revolution by integrating telehealth technologies. This has enabled encrypted, direct video consultations for dermatology and the follow-up of chronic cases among bedridden patients.
The health system has not overlooked children; rather, it has given them exceptional attention, manifested in the launch of a home health care vehicle service for children under the age of fourteen suffering from chronic and complex diseases, such as congenital heart diseases, metabolic disorders, and cases of tumors and blood diseases.
This pioneering initiative came through close cooperation with civil society institutions, aiming to alleviate the significant psychological and physical burden on children and their families caused by repeated hospital visits. In this context, the Ministry was keen to expand the scope of home health care services, offering them through certain health centers to ensure the provision of superior medical care for children, the elderly, and bedridden patients within their immediate family environment and without geographical barriers.
These integrated efforts directed at children have yielded tangible results. Medical teams affiliated with the program conducted more than 872 home visits in the first half of 2025 alone, providing comprehensive humanitarian and medical care to children in their homes. These visits effectively contributed to reducing long hospitalization periods in hospital wards, significantly shortened waiting lists, and improved the general health indicators of children benefiting from this pioneering service.
Indicators confirm that home health care is steadily moving toward integration and institutionalization as a medical and humanitarian “safety valve.” Transitioning the service from the hospital to the patient’s home, governing it with strict regulations, and supporting it with digital transformation not only protects the health system from congestion but also safeguards the quality of life for citizens and residents during their most sensitive and vulnerable times, particularly in the context of the current regional situation.
