Right at Home News- February 27th

I was waylaid in Florida because of last Fridays snowstorm, with my little kids and had to spend 3 extra days in the sunshine.....too bad for me! The Right at Home management staff and care staff did an outstanding job of manning the ship while I was away.

I always think about our local elders in these snowstorms. Our clients have Right at Home caregivers to help them get around or to do errands for them. Other elders in our community just get stuck at home, or make unsafe attempts to shovel or walk our uneven sidewalks (Marblehead, where I live can be especially treacherous for winter walking). If you have an elderly neighbor, please stop over to see if there is anything that you can do for them. Even if it is picking up milk when you are out, it can mean the difference in that person's day.

Other news at Right at Home finds Lynne Nieman, our Community Relations Liaison, being brought down temporarily with a medical condition. We miss Lynne here at the office and we hope to see her back meeting our clients and their families very soon.

Large Amounts of Money in the Home

I heard a terrible incident today regarding an elder (not a Right at Home client) that kept several thousand dollars of cash in their home. For whatever reason, the hiding place for this money became evident to the home care worker in the home. It is sad to report that the temptation became too much and the elder had their money go missing.

The reason that I share this is to warn potential families that keeping large sums of money in the home is not a good choice. Because the client above used a reliable agency, they are protected by insurance. There were criminal background checks done on the employee, however an incident still occurred.

Many elders and families hire individual through the Internet or through a referral. They do not have an agency's protection. Home health aides are usually in a personal, low income situation. They are just like any other group - the vast majority of them are honest, hard working people, but unfortunately a very small percentage make wrong choices.

The bottom line is.....whether it is home health, contractors, repair people....any service people...please don't keep large amounts of cash in your house. It is the safe choice.