Right at Home Leadership Council

I had the pleasure of spending a few days on a cruise with the Right at Home Leadership Council last week. This group consists of the top 18 Right at Home franchises in the country. Jay and I spend time with our peers exchanging information about the different regions in the country and how we can all better serve the seniors in our respective areas. They are a great group of people and it really is a pleasure to work with them. Senior care can be a competitive undertaking and it is so nice to meet with people that all have the same concerns and serve their marketplace with integrity.

Fun Night Number 2- Lobster Fun

Right at Home was back at it with Fun Night Number 2! This invitation only event is our way to thank those in the community that work with us for all their efforts in caring for our seniors! We spent a beautiful sunset listening to cool Beatles music down at Winter Island in Salem and eating a gorgeous Lobsterbake provided by Ken Rothwell of Salem





Many "old timers" from Fun Night Number 1 came and enjoyed the fact that they did not have to cook their own dinner!



We see Geriatric Care Manager, Sharyn Russell and Rosaleen Doherty, owner of Right at Home digging into the those awesome crustaceans! Also at that table we see JPC Support Services Judy Citron, her guest from Transitions and Deb Coddington from The John Bertram House in Salem. Then we see Jay Kenney, owner of Right at Home listening to the band and enjoying the company of Susan Haas from Grosvenor Park and Sue Anderson and Erin Higgins from NE Rehab.



The Right at Home crew is represented by Lisa Furtado and Lynne Nieman. Enjoying the Corona is Heather from Essex Park and Donna Gambale from Rosewood.




Sue Busiek and Nancy Rubin from BaneCare are in deep conversation. Karen and Christina are representing the best scheduling team on the North Shore! (that would be Right at Home)

Everyone loved the Beatles music provided by Kevin Levesque and friends. Rosaleen and Donna Gambale have resigned from their current positions and are becoming Groupies for the band!



Joanne Sanchez from Peabody Glen and Susan enjoy a laugh! Look at the NE Rehab faces....I think this says it all! We had a really laid back night...eating, drinking and enjoying the gorgeous night! Thank you to our awesome bartender and server from Ken Rothwell!

Falls Killing as Many Seniors as Vehicular Accidents!

Fall prevention, fall prevention, fall prevention......that is something that we stress over and over with our home care aides at Right at Home. I was forwarded an article from The Boston Globe yesterday titled

Fatal falls soar among the elderly in Mass.

In 2006, there was a drastic rise in the number of deaths that the Department of Public Health saw among the elderly in Massachusetts. It has been said that almost 25% of all elders that take a fall will die as a direct result of that fall. We have had two former clients that fell (not when we were working) and died from the fall. It is heartbreaking for the families, because they really did not understand the full impact a fall could have on their loved one, outside of broken bones or a stint in rehab. It is happening in long term care facilities, at home, outside....anywhere. Because of various conditions, including mascular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, blood pressure changes and many, many others elders are falling because they are attempting to do their normal activities, but they do not sometimes understand how limiting their physical condition can be. Please keep your elder safe. Have someone come to the house to do a safety evaluation, get rid of throw rugs, keep an elder's glasses by their bed, etc.

Having in home supportive care can help, because when an elder needs to move, an aide who is trained in ambulation assistance and fall prevention may be there for the moment that an elder feels weak. And even if an elder does fall, in long term care or at home, it is imperative that someone is there to get them up. I have heard of cases where people have been alone at home, and they couldn't get up. They were cold and suffering for hours. This is not a well repeated Lifeline commercial (I've fallen and I can't get up!). This is very serious and it is a VERY good idea for someone to have Lifeline. The only downside is that the elder needs to be aware to press the button or have the short term memory to remember.

If there is a fall, Right at Home aides are trained to call 911 to have EMT's come and help them. An aide should NEVER pick up an elder by themselves. This could lead to both of them falling.

Fall prevention is the one of the keys to elder safety.

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.

Right at Home Leadership Conference

Jay and I are out at the Right at Home Leadership Conference in Cancun, Mexico. The conference is a collection of the 15 most successful Right at Home owners in the US. We are very proud to be in this group. We have spent the day with Alan Hager and the other senior management at Right at Home to talk about the current issues with our home care agencies and how to make them better.

This group of people is so knowledgable and committed to client care. I don't think there is any group of home care agency owners that has such a wonderful support system. This is the reason why Right at Home continues to be the most caring and innovative home care group in the the US. We have been talking about Right at Home University, the system we use to educate our caregivers and the Care Rewards system we use to reward our caregivers for giving wonderful, quality care. When Jay and I went to this conference last year, we learned so much from our peers, which translated into better home care for our clients. I suspect that 2008 will be the same! Adios!

Recent Speaking Engagements

I have been asked to do a number of speaking engagements over the past month. It has been a great experience. In early September, I spoke to John Hancock Insurance employees in Boston in an educational program on Medicaid and Medicare. It was part of their employee assistance program to help inform them about health insurance issues that they may face when helping an elder or looking more down the road for themselves. I thought it was a terrific topic to discuss, because I find that so many families don't know anything about the Medicare and Medicaid until it is time to use it. To start to think about the "gaps" in care and how to prepare for it is important. I was able to share my experiences with families who were in crisis mode because they never planned to manage their family member's health care. Information will not change the "suprise" moment when we start caregiving another adult, however information on Medicare and Medicaid will take some of the fire out of the crisis.

On September 21st, I spoke to the Haverhill Rotary Club about Adult Caregiving. The group was very welcoming and asked many good questions. I brought the Adult Caregiving Guide that Right at Home has produced with Secure Horizons. In the end, I didn't bring enough. It was a really nice group. You can download a copy of our Adult Caregiving Show Me Guide by going to the national Right at Home website and you will see the PDF option on the left.

Next week, I am speaking on a panel for the law offices of Vincent Bonazzolli. His office specializes in estate planning and he runs informational seminars for his clients and their families. His office is in Lynnfield, MA and I have found him and his office staff to be extremely professional and great to work with.

The other members of the panel will be Dianne Savistano of HealthAssist. Healthassist offers expert consulting, coaching, information and assistance to demystify healthcare and help consumers make the best decisions for their health. She is particularly helpful with helping people with a hard diagnosis (cancer) and helping them navigate through the insurance and the healthcare decisions.

Eileen Berman of Independent Living Solutions. Eileen is an excellent Geriatric Care Manager that works with families all over the North Shore. Right at Home works with her to help many clients.

Dick Cote of Good Life Providers will also be on the panel. This service provides home safety, modification and property maintenance service specializing in the needs of senior home owners. Ongoing maintenance is critical to maintaining a safe and comfortable home as well as enhancing the property value while preventing minor problems from developing into major headaches. I am honored to be presenting with them all