The owners and employees are doing a really nice job! When searching for a business to provide helpers for personal care services, this business came highly recommended to us and I am very pleased with the assistance they've provided thus far. Naturally I've had more interaction with the employees (than the owners) who provide assistance for my elderly dad, and I really appreciate their care and concern for him. Right now Edelyn, Christina and Carole assist him on a daily basis and each lady is kind, considerate, compassionate and caring. To some degree they are each continuing with their education in the health care arena in their off-duty time too, which I admire. While they help him with a lot -- personal care, dressing, medications, motivation to exercise -- they also allow/encourage him to do as much as he can within the limits of his capabilities. Additionally he is comforted knowing he can stay in his own home, though there will be a time when he must go to assisted living (unless he decided to instead to live with one of his adult children). There is another dynamic that isn't often considered when searching for personal care assistance and that is the dynamic that occurs in the home. Depending on who lives in the home, there's a dominant person and a passive person. Additionally, there may be some enablers in the family. Or family members may "pop-in" and try dominate the situation for a short time and then leave. Then there are always those who phone in from afar and try to exert their will telephonically or by text. There are exponential dynamics when considering the financial challenges, the emotional toll, the diminution of physical capabilities, the fear of death, a pending move from a well-loved home, marital challenges, separation from loved ones, etc, etc, etc. Some of this stuff has been going on with my dad's situation and the caregivers have navigated the discussions and concerns with professionalism and discretion. They have been calm and quiet while some of these discussions are occurring and remain present but uninvolved -- meaning they do not offer opinions -- which ultimately I think is not only helpful, but prevents them from becoming embroiled in something that may backfire on them.
It is very difficult to open your home to complete strangers and I asked how the owners vet their workers, due to concern about someone taking advantage of my dad during a very vulnerable time in his life. The owners have professional degrees of their own and have worked in the industry with seniors for many years, so their experience gives me confidence, firstly. Next they do not hire felons, and beyond that they do background checks/fingerprint cards and finally they conduct in person interviews. (I believe they told me the caregivers have CPR certifications, but you should confirm that yourself and mainly if there is a medical crisis, they would call 911). Also, the workers are required to "clock-in" "clock-out" via phone, so the business ensures that the workers arrive on time and do not leave your loved one unattended. The only recommendation I would make to the business owners is to do surprise spot checks on their workers during the daytime shifts and possibly even present them with "Caught Doing Well" awards (certificate/bonus $ for Christmas?) if they're doing a good job and get good feedback from clients. Thank you Home Instead!i
***2 years later update.****
This is an amazing business. Our family has tested Home Instead in many, many scenarios and they have adjusted amazingly well to each. They withstood the test of time, provided first class service throughout home care, through hospice care and death and I give them my whole-hearted endorsement. It's difficult to trust a business with the care of your parents, but you can trust Home Instead. They worked really hard and fully earned their five-star rating from me. It's the first time I've written a review where I would give a higher rating if it were available. I recently learned that Home Instead is a franchise, so if I were looking for elder care in another part of the country, I would start with Home Instead. The most important thing you should know is that you can trust the supervisors to do what they say they will do and you can trust the caregivers to take care of the elder person in your life. read more