Home Visits and Field Work
- Explain the importance and advantages of home visits.
- Describe the main steps for each stage of a home visit: preparing, conducting, and following up.
- Identify the components of a client-centered referral.
- Describe appropriate attire and footwear for conducting a home visit.
- List strategies for ensuring your own safety during a home visit.
Home visits
Conducting home visits is a crucial aspect of CHW work. These visits enable CHWs to establish connections with patients in a non-medical setting, offering valuable insights into their environment and daily routines.
By visiting patients in their own environments, you observe living conditions, available resources, support systems, and challenges firsthand. This allows you to tailor care to each patient's specific needs.
Every home visit has three fundamental stages: preparation, conducting the visit, and follow-up.
What can go wrong
Before we walk through best practices, here's what happens without them.
Stage 1: Preparation
Make a confirmation call
Provide important details (purpose, duration) and ask about specific instructions or safety concerns. Good questions to get answered first:
Confirmation call questions
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Get organized
Pull together what you already know
Watch: Preparing for a home visit
According to the CHW in the video, why is being prepared for a home visit important?
The CHW mentions some people may not be comfortable allowing a stranger into their home. How does he address this?
Where in your community could you recommend meeting clients who aren't comfortable with home visits?
Stage 2: Conducting the Visit
Your main goal during the visit is to gather information. There are three modes:
Targeted, open-ended questions
Use targeted, open-ended questions and follow-ups so people can share from their own perspective. Example: "Last time we talked, you mentioned a lot of pain. How have you been managing it in the last week?" Follow up: "When you say you struggled with pain last week, how many days were difficult?" Use assessment tools, questionnaires, and scales to guide the conversation and track progress.
Stage 3: Follow up
Step 1: Documentation
- Create or update an action plan
- Write progress notes summarizing findings, topics discussed, progress, barriers, and action plan updates
- Submit notes to the care team
- Log visit data into other databases as required
Step 2: Follow-up Activities
- Phone calls (doctors, case managers, caregivers, resource providers)
- Submit referrals; follow up on processing
- Research specialists, resources, and health education materials
Step 3: Prepare for Next Visit
- Identify anticipated objectives
- Determine if any assessments are required based on current needs
- Review and address follow-up topics from the action plan
Samantha skipped the confirmation call because she thought it was "a mere formality." Which problems during her visit could a confirmation call most directly have prevented?
Match each home-visit activity to the stage it belongs to.
Making client-centered referrals
Referrals work when they're tailored to individual needs and preferences — aligned with the patient's specific health conditions, lifestyle, and personal circumstances.
Watch these two videos. Pay attention to the difference in how each CHW handles the client's priorities.
In the first video, the CHW immediately suggests a support group and mentions a personal connection to the facilitator. In the second, the CHW takes a more exploratory approach. How important is it for CHWs to actively listen to clients and address their individual concerns?
What impact can client-centered care have on the effectiveness of referrals?
Dressing for the field
The way you dress during a home visit affects trust, comfort, and safety. A professional and appropriate appearance establishes credibility, while respectful and culturally appropriate dress strengthens connection. Five things to keep in mind:
Dressing for the field
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Staying safe in the field
CHWs often work in diverse environments, some of which may pose risks (crime, poverty, instability). Stay vigilant and take proactive measures.
Before going to the home
Which of the following are recommended field-work safety practices during a home visit? Select all that apply.
🌟 Lesson takeaways
Home visits give CHWs context — what patients live with, who supports them, and what their day-to-day actually looks like. The three stages (prepare, conduct, follow up) all matter, because cut corners cascade — Samantha's tale shows what one missed confirmation call can lead to. A client-centered referral aligns services with the patient's own conditions, lifestyle, and circumstances. Dressing thoughtfully builds trust without going to extremes, and safety strategies protect you so you can keep doing the work.
At the end of this module, you'll join a live discussion with your cohort and an instructor. Great work — we'll see you there.