Providing territorial assistance  means ensuring that the patient continues to live among his memories and affections, without being deprived of a treatment service necessary for his health condition. This assumption starts from the idea that the home is the main treatment space, where the patient can be assisted by medical and nursing staff, but at the same time continue to remain in his social and family context, working and traveling, according to his residual capacities.

The definition of home care can be found in article 22 of the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 12 January 2017, relating to the Definition and updating of the essential levels of assistance*, where they are indicated as home care pathways, consisting of from the organized set of medical, rehabilitative, nursing treatments necessary to stabilize the clinical picture, limit functional decline and improve the patient's quality of life.

In other words, home assistance is a service envisaged by the Essential Levels of Assistance (ELA with the aim of responding to the health needs of fragile people in general, therefore of non self-sufficient, elderly, disabled and minors who need of home care on a temporary or protracted basis, for the purpose of managing chronicity, preventing disability and improving the quality of life.