The Chicago Bridge event on August 15, 2012, ?Home Care101: Public, Private, and Family? discussed what?home care options are available to families. The event was co-sponsored by Comfort Keepers and Open?Arms Solutions, two licensed home care agencies.
One of the biggest issues addressed at this event were the differences between home care?options. Often families are confused when they decide to seek home care. They may wonder, ?Should I?have a family member provide care? An agency? Does my loved one need a nurse or a C.N.A.?? Adding?to this burden, many families experience a sense of guilt when they realize that they alone cannot?provide care to their loved one.
As the co-moderator, Itay Shalev (owner of Comfort Keepers) supplied a visual that summarizes?the differences between placement agencies, non-medical home care agencies, home health services,?and independent caregivers:
*Data summarized from the Illinois Administrative Code.
Denise Brown, founder of caregiving.com and one of the night?s panelists, suggested that?the lack of clearly defined options is one of the major weak points in elder care. Denise works?predominantly with family caregivers. Every year since 1996, she has surveyed the family caregivers?who use her website as a source of support. Over the years, Denise said not much has changed in the?feedback that family caregivers offer her. ?What family caregivers want from us is to listen to them,?to respect their knowledge about the person they care for.? According to her survey a major point of?contention is how discharge is handled at facilities. ?Their time is limited.? She said. ?When they are?given a list of referrals they hope that the information is up to date, that the phone numbers still work,?and that they can reach someone who can actually help them.?
A question was posed to the group of social workers and elder care specialists in attendance:?What have your personal experiences been with hospital discharge? One attendee mentioned that she?received a five-page printout while being discharged from the hospital. Although the packet included?phone numbers for different agencies that could be of assistance there was little to no information?about what specific services each company provided, how to set up care with them, or how much the?services cost.
In addition to laying out the differences between home care options, Mr. Shalev also shared a?summary of a recent study published in the July 13 issue of the Journal of American Geriatrics led by?Northwestern?s Dr. Lee Lindquist. This study suggests that more thorough questions need to be asked of?any home care provider before a care plan is developed.
Jennifer Moore, RN, BSN of Premier Home Health Services Inc. (a CCP Partner) and panelist?recognized that there were many issues for families to face once it is discovered that care is?needed. ?People don?t know what to ask.? She said. ?There are resources out there but families simply?don?t know what questions to ask or who to address those questions to.? Ms. Moore suggests that the?best place to start for families seeking care is to contact their local Areas Agencies on Aging.
Some individuals, however, may not have the benefit of having a family to help advocate for?them. Debra D. Feldman, MSW, LCSW, CMC and one of the evening?s panelists, helps to bridge this gap?by acting on behalf of her client?s when they transition to a new form of care. Of her work Ms. Feldman?stated, ?I educate families on how to get through the aging process.? She often finds that, prior to her?intervention, clients are not being heard. ?One client I began to work with had a C.N.A. show up to?provide care. This was a relatively weak woman but her cognitive abilities were strong. The C.N.A. gave?her a bath but when she finished the client?s hair was still wet. She was cold. She asked the C.N.A. for a?towel so that she could dry her own hair but the C.N.A. refused to provide the towel to her.?
Ms. Feldman coordinates with the staff of nursing homes, home care agencies, home health?companies, and doctors to insure that her client?s needs and wants are understood. When considering?home care options for her clients she said, ?I think that home care agencies are especially helpful. They?provide the backup support necessary so that if a caregiver gets sick they have will have a substitute?come out. They provide the supervision. They act as the employer and take care of the hiring and firing.?Independent caregivers can work out too but when you consider that agencies have the additional?protection of Worker?s Compensation; that they handle the licensing, boning, taxes, and payroll, it?makes sense to spend the few extra dollars. The difference in cost between an independent caregiver?and an agency are not terribly significant once you consider the protections they provide.
Home care companies can be a great resource in providing assistance with activities of daily?living but it is critical that families be informed about what different types of care are available before?they make a decision. They should have access to studies like Dr. Lindquist?s, which can empower?families to receive the best possible care for their needs. I whole-heartedly believe that Dr. Lindquist?is correct in her suggestion that families must have access to information that will help them make?informed decisions. The question is how do we make this information palatable to families in crisis?mode? How can we create a clear and understandable resource for families to learn about home care?options?
One place that we can start is by continuing to host events like this one. When we as a?community collaborate, when we share information about what we do in the elder care field, we open?doors for families. As Denise Brown stated early in the evening, our role is ?getting help to them when?they need it, not after. We want to prevent regrets.? This is why I am grateful for the efforts made by?the Chicago Bridge. When we form relationships with one another we are not simply being social, we?are stretching the fabric of our collaborative knowledge. We are pulling our strength together so that,?hopefully, the entire community will be covered.
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Thank you to Renee Bober and Kristen Pavle for editing this post.
Source: http://www.thechicagobridge.org/home-care-101-public-private-and-family/
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