The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is the largest and most respected professional association representing the interests of chronically ill, disabled, and dying Americans of all ages and the caregivers who provide them with in-home health and hospice services.

NAHC is a unique trade association for several reasons.  First, it reflects its membership, placing the concerns of the infirm and dying before its institutional or corporate interests.  Second, it represents the interests of those Americans described as being on the “fringes of life”—the elderly and terminally ill facing compound problems of illness in the twilight of life, millions of fragile children with major health problems in the dawn of life, and the disabled and sick, who are too often relegated to the shadows of life. Third, it aspires to excellence in every respect. Fourth, it goes to extraordinary lengths to support the specific needs of its member organizations. Fifth, it understands that its specific mission must be achieved in cooperation with other organizations and individuals. Sixth, NAHC is committed to achieving the highest quality of care at home for vulnerable Americans and thereby winning the last great civil rights battle.

NAHC is committed to a series of values from which its specific objectives follow.  For example, NAHC is committed:

• To the development of a more caring society in the belief that the solution of most human problems lies in the love and understanding of one human being for another.
• To preserving the solidarity of families, the fundamental building block of society.
• To securing the rights of the underprivileged, ill, and disabled.
• To the protection of the environment.
• To promotion of honesty, integrity, and quality in all aspects of society.
• To the promotion of wellness and the universal right of access to the highest quality of health care and supportive services for all.
• To justice—social, economic, and political for all citizens.

NAHC’s specific mission involves the following 15 purposes, to:

• Serve as the unified voice for the home care and hospice community;
• Provide direct needed service to the members;
• Heighten the political viability of home care and hospice interests;
• Influence the legislative, judicial, and regulatory processes with respect to issues of importance to hospice and home care;
• Sponsor research, gather and disseminate home care and hospice data;
• Promote home care and hospice as a viable component of the health delivery system;
• Foster, develop, and promote high standards of patient care in home care and hospice services;
• Provide expert business advice and assistance to members with respect to management, legal, or operational issues, and help connect them with consumers;
• Disseminate information to the media and the general public to promote the acceptance of home care and hospice services and to support family/informal caregivers;
• Expand private health insurance and other third party sources for financing hospice and home care services;
• Promote collaboration among national, state, and local organizations relating to home care and hospice services and issues;
• Initiate, sponsor, and promote educational programs;
• Represent the interests of caregivers (nurses, homemaker-home health aides, physicians, and therapists) who work in the home care field and to encourage individuals to choose a career in home care and hospice services;
• Protect the legal rights of hospice and home care beneficiaries and those of the organizations and their employees who provide consumers with such services; and
• Promote independence and contribution by potential home care clients, thereby shattering the myth that dependence is a necessary state for the aged and disabled in America.

NAHC’s mission can be summarized in one line: “We are bringing health care back home where it belongs.”