What is home care?
In-home care provides seniors with one-on-one assistance in the comfort of their own home, which enables them to live independently. Senior Care at Home helps seniors maintain their quality of life, and the personal attention they receive vastly improves their safety, health, and happiness. Home care includes assistance with activities of daily living such as meal preparation, bathing, transportation, laundry, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and companionship.
My parents are reluctant to accept home care. Now what?
Convincing older adults that they need help at home can be challenging. While they balk at the thought of losing independence, the opposite is actually true. By having a little help, they are much more likely to retain independence because they remain in control of decisions affecting their lifestyle. Once a crisis occurs (a fall, dehydration, a severe UTI), decisions about their care will be in the hands of others. With professional home care, families can enjoy peace of mind knowing their loved ones are in safe and caring hands.
We have a few ideas:
- Ask your parents to try home care, at least temporarily. Once they meet their caregiver and see how nice it is to have an extra set of hands, “temporary” almost always becomes permanent.
- Come up with another name for “caregiver.” Some of our clients are more receptive to having a personal assistant or a housekeeper/chef.
- Ask your parents to do this for you: agree to a meeting with our owner. Once your parents meet our owner and understand that our company shares their goal of remaining at home, it’s a less threatening proposition.
Who pays for home care?
Home care generally is a private-pay service. Many of our clients use long-term care insurance policies to help cover the cost of in-home care. The government does not pay for the type of services provided by home care agencies. Medicare will pay for home health care, such as physical therapy, nurse visits and hospice care. These services are available in the home, however, must be determined medically-necessary and be ordered by a physician based on eligibility criteria. Choosing home care to support your lifestyle the way you want to live it is completely up to you! The Veterans Administration offers a home care benefit through its Aid and Attendance Program.
Why should I use a company rather than hire a caregiver on my own?
Many people, when they begin to look for help at home, need help with just a meal or two, maybe transportation. They often look to friends and family, church acquaintances, or friends of friends. People don’t consider the risks involved with hiring private caregivers vs. working with a licensed agency. A licensed agency is held to high standards of employment practices, liability protection, and safe care practices, including care management by an RN. Yes, you will get help at a lower hourly rate; but typically, you’re relying on one person. So, if there’s an illness or another personal issue, you’re out of luck. An agency will be responsible for ensuring qualified staff is available to meet your needs, providing backup when needed. With Senior Care at Home, care is always provided by a certified nurse aide and supervised by an RN. By law, a person who provides personal care (help with dressing, bathing, mobility, and continence) should be certified.
When you hire a private caregiver as your employee, you are responsible and liable for damages as a result of an injury. You are also responsible for payroll taxes. However, with Senior Care at Home, we handle these important legal and employment issues.
With a private caregiver, you need to do the proper screening and background checks. After you hire that person, you then become a supervisor, and it isn’t always easy! We have a very rigorous system for screening and interviewing caregivers, so we hire only the highest quality caregivers. Senior Care at Home conducts national criminal background checks, and our caregivers go through multiple interviews and orientation regarding care standards, policies, and procedures. Plus, we handle all ongoing caregiver scheduling and management issues.
It takes a lot more management and coordination than people think. We make a significant investment as a business to help ensure the highest quality service. To get the best care, you should involve professionals.
Most important, however, is the fact that when you choose Senior Care at Home, you are hiring an entire team of people who care. We’re there for the journey!
See a side-by-side comparison of agency hire vs. private hire.
What’s unique about Senior Care at Home?
We hope you’ll find from your very first call, we are different! We care. We listen. We want to be a partner to you in your loved one’s care. Our service is tailored to each individual client’s circumstances and needs, based on a series of conversations including an in-home consultation. We are not an “adult babysitting” service, and we aren’t simply a housekeeping service. We provide ongoing care management to ensure that the care is of the highest standard and that our caregivers are helping our clients lead high-quality, purposeful lives. We are the top senior care provider in Edmond & Oklahoma City.
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So many pieces of our philosophy contribute to our success: consistency in caregivers, a proprietary system for screening caregivers, a unique training program, our holistic care that nurtures physical, social, and cognitive well-being, and more. If you decide to interview several home care companies, you need to keep us on your shortlist.
How do you choose caregivers?
One of the reasons we earn high client satisfaction ratings is our ability to match clients and caregivers. After our initial meeting and assessment with you or your loved one, our Care Manager will have an excellent idea of the level of care needed and the type of personality that would be a good fit. At that point, we go through a matching process to help ensure the very best fit. Nearly 100% of the time, we are right on target with our “matchmaking” skills. However, anytime during the relationship that the client wants to change caregivers — for any reason — we willingly do so.
Do I have to sign a contract?
No. While we have an agreement that spells out expectations, we do not require a long-term commitment to our services. We want you to use us only if you are 100% satisfied. As a matter of fact, we encourage older adults who are undecided about the value of home care to simply give us a try, even if it’s only for a month.
Does home care have to be at-home or in-home?
Our care goes wherever seniors need it. Our caregivers can even provide one-to-one services for seniors during hospital stays and in independent senior communities and assisted living facilities, ensuring that seniors maintain the high level of personal care and companionship they deserve. Our caregivers can even accompany seniors on vacation!
Will the caregiver move in to the senior’s home?
For hourly care, caregivers stay in the home only for the duration of their assigned shift. Caregivers maintain a separate residence and are not allowed to use the personal property of the client, except in the course of the client’s care. For live-in care, our caregiver will remain in the client’s home for an extended period, up to five days. The caregiver will have access to private sleeping quarters and will be available anytime to assist the client with care. Caregivers do not have visitors or invite family to the home while they are working.
