Home – Based Long Term Services
As people age, their anxiety turns from their kids’ well being and future to their own personal well being and future. They may realize that they should have taken better care of their health, their finances, their faith, and their friendships throughout the years.
As spouses pass away, some friends choose to live together, for companionship and safety reasons, rather than remarrying. This does not work for everyone as many simply wish to keep their privacy. Whether or not this is an option, a person’s capacity to handle personal matters tends to lessen due to having less energy and a lack of priority for what were once more important issues.
As a person’s health dwindles, and mental capacities falter, people outside the home will recognize the need for some sort of help. Most of the folks who are deemed to need this help generally don’t appreciate the concern and tend to think the kids or neighbors are butting in where they have no business. The best case scenario is that the kids are around and help their parents out with the cooking, cleaning, medical visits, and shopping. This should be seamless as these kids should have been attentive to their parents before the need arises. This scenario is playing out less and less as the mobility of our society becomes greater. Families are spread out through many states instead of being clustered together.
Where should you turn when you need a little bit of help with dressing, bathing, toileting, cooking, and cleaning? It is important to know that, in fact, someone will be there when they say they will. It is equally important for many to keep their children as their children and not caregivers – so there is not any sort of unexpressed burden or resentment.
There are currently about a dozen or so adult in-home day care providers within the East Valley. There are about nine who provide services which are custodial in nature, and do not include any medical care. However, they do provide “medication reminder” services.
The costs for these services generally run about $15 - $18 per hour. All include in home evaluations and consultations. The billing is twice monthly and the providers take care of any paperwork required from long term care insurance. The employees are insured and bonded. All will provide 24 hour care at a special rate.
The best local company, in this interviewer’s opinion, is Home . . . With Help, LLC. Check them out at www.homewithhelp.com. They can be reached at 480-941-0200. All of their employees are “certified care givers” and they are all screened by an outside background checking company.
The next group of terrific providers in the area include Home Helpers, Home Instead Senior Care, and Home Watch Care Givers. Home Helpers can be reached at www.HomeHelpers.cc or 480-753-5877. They train their employees in “basic” caregiver classes such as first aid and CPR. They also test all of their employees for TB. Home Instead Senior Care may be reached at www.homeinstead.com or 480-827-1001. Their caregivers are generally experienced and found to be “caring” individuals through background checks. Finally, Home Watch Care Givers can be found at www.homewatchcaregivers.com or 480-892-3778. Their caregivers are matched to clients by a personality matching system and adhere to a specific Care Giver Code of Ethics.
Company personalities and services change regularly. Please do your own checking to ensure that the company you choose is a good fit for your needs. This author is not affiliated with any of those listed above, and has no personal first hand knowledge of the service providers. However, this author knows firsthand that these types of companies are crucial to keep one’s elderly family members in their homes with some semblance of independence and dignity.
