I had two calls to start my Monday both with families who were holding off on starting care because of their loved ones resistance to wanting care. Both families were in dire need of care immediately. In both situations there was the spouse providing the care for the (husband/wife). The families called us concerned, that with the health concerns of the caregiving spouse that if something happened to them the person they were caring for’s care would be impacted significantly. In each case I met with the couples and their family. In both meetings the family’s elderly loved ones felt as though they would be fine, while the family was worried about the “what if” scenario. What if something happens to you mom is what they said. What if you get sick or worse wind up in the hospital, who will take care of dad? Your health is not good right now and it would be a smart decision to have care in place before the “what if” happened. Their mom’s response was that they were both fine and that they could manage on their own.

When I speak to a family about what non-medical home care can deliver for many it’s an education process. Most people that reach out to me are placing their first call ever to inquire about their loved one needing assistance. They feel lost and overwhelmed. They depend on myself and our office staff to guide them through the process. Most families are not aware of what the scope of care is that we can bring into a home or the level of expertise. Some underestimate what a non-medical agency can do and others may overestimate the level of care, skill and type of staff we employ.

A few years ago I received a call to assist a family whose parent was in a nursing home and we were asked if we could provide companionship as well as transportation for small outings for their parent. This came at the recommendation of the nursing home their parent was in. We were told that the parent was high functioning, but had come to live there because he had several falls while living in a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). He had been deemed only appropriate to live in a nursing home.

We provide assistance in many areas to our clients. While we are not physical therapists, we work with our clients to keep them on track with their recommended exercises when they return home from rehab in a nursing home. We have found that so many times a senior is resistant to doing these exercises on their own, but we know that they key to them remaining ambulatory and strong is keeping up with those exercises at home when physical therapy is not there.