Right at Home in Marblehead Reporter

Right at Home's opening in Salem, MA was featured in the Marblehead Reporter. It was nice to see Jay quoted and talking about our Telephony system. Telephony is our electronic time carding system. When a Right at Home aide goes into a home, they dial into a specific 800 number. They put in their employee code and tell the system if they are punching in or out. This system even works if the phone is blocked because it uses E911 technology to read the telephone it is being dialed from. The call is only valid if it comes from the client's telephone.

The call then is automatically logged into our scheduling software. If a call does not go into our system within 15 minutes of the start of a shift, then there is an outcall to our supervisors. We can proactively call the client, aide or family to find out if everything is OK. This technology has given us the first proactive monitoring system that we could implement for all shifts, at all times. This increases our client's security immensely and it has been extremely well received by families.

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.

Prepackaged Pharmacy Products Save Lives

We are offering our clients a great new prepackaged pharmacy solution. This is so unique as an in-home solution, that I a really excited about it. Our client's families are always looking for a solution to help the burden of medication management. The reasons that this is needed is:

1) Virtually all seniors take multiple medications (the more meds, the more possibility of mistakes, non-compliance)

2) 1/3 of seniors needing assistance to stay at home need help with their medication management and reminders

Our Right at Home Prepackaged Solution:

1) Maintains people's independence by improving their health because it
increases compliance, because the medications are all set up
2) Provides peace of mind for the caregiver
3) Provides a cost savings on medication

Compliance Saves Lives!! (Taking Medications Correctly)

1) 10% of all hospital admissions are a result of non-compliance
2) 23% of all nursing home admissions are a result of non-compliance
3) 125,000 deaths a year are a result of non-compliance

See what WebMD has to say about medication compliance and how prepackaging meds dramatically increases the correct use of medications!!

This is a puppy picture of Lola, the wonder therapy dog that I work with on Wednesdays. She and I visit the good women of Renaissance Gardens Assisted Living at Brooksby Village
on Wednesdays. This is part of my service in the community that has given me so much. The women that I see all tell me about the dogs in their past and keep track of my stories about my kids and work. It is very rewarding.

You can have your dog certified for pet therapy through a number of organizations. Lola has been trained but she still has to pass her test (she gets very excited when she sees another dog). I will have to work on training her out of that!!

Snacking For Seniors

I saw today a link from Reuters regarding Snacking for Seniors. We find that we are always concerned with the diet of our senior clients and snacking seems to help us. Our clients rarely want to eat a lot at a meal, however the small meals that they take, sometimes do not provide enough calories or nutrients to provide the energy they need to complete their days activities.

At Right at Home, we find that if we provide small "meals" several times a day helps our clients take in more calories, PLUS they are more open to one banana or toast and tea, than a big meal. Since seniors sometimes eat less than the rest of us, pick the yummiest and most nutrient rich snack you can find. Happy Snacking!!

North Shore Elder Services 30th Birthday Party

Last night we attended North Shore Elder Services 30th Birthday Bash. Right at Home was one of the sponsors. The theme was the 70's. North Shore Elder Services is the local ASAP (Aging Services Access Point) for Marblehead, Salem, Peabody, Danvers and Middleton Massachusetts. Many elders and caregivers were there, along with all the elder services providers. It took place at the Peabody Council on Aging. They served the food that they serve every day for the elders at the Adult Day Health and the other COA functions- chicken, pasta and vegetables. It was pretty good. There was a lot of joy there- laughing, dancing (the band was great) and conversation.

Anyone wondering where to start with elder services in Massachusetts should call their local ASAP. You can find out which one services your town by going to the 800 Age Info site run by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The ASAP's can tell a family if they qualify for services like transportation, homemaker and personal care services, Meals on Wheels or adult day health services. Even if someone does not financially qualify for subsidized services, there are support groups and many other resources to be found.

Home Care this Week

As the founder of a successful senior home care agency in Massachusetts, I get to see the most wonderful situations and the saddest situations that occur with our seniors. It is heart warming to see the families that sacrifice their lives for their elder who suffers from advanced dementia and it is heart breaking to see the elder that lives alone and has no one that cares for them except their home health aide.

This week I met a family that has been caregiving their 90 year old mother with Alzheimer's Disease for five years. From 9 AM to 5 PM, one sister does all the care. Her mother is advanced and losing her language skills, so she needs to be supervised every minute. This daughter is relieved by her brother and his wife for the overnight shift and the weekend. The care and example that this mother must have given her children must have been extraordinary. Their dedication is unwavering. The son and his wife have not slept at their own house for five years.

When I look at my kids, I wonder if they would do that for me? Would I want them to?