Help Choose Home

According to a 2018 AARP survey, 80% of adults over the age of 50 want to remain in their homes and communities as they age. For those in the home care industry, these findings come as no surprise. Home not only represents familiarity, but comfort and security as well. And during the pandemic, home has also been seen as a safe haven for older adults who, due to age and any pre-existing health conditions, are at a higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19.

During today's episode of Help Choose Home, I am joined by Jeff Wiberg, CEO of Family Resource Home Care, which has been serving residents of the Pacific Northwest for 54 years. Jeff has been in the home care field since 2008, and as you'll learn in our discussion, he is passionately committed to helping people access care at home.

In this episode of Help Choose Home we discuss:

• The wide variety of care available at home
• How professional home care services are paid for
• The value of home care services
• The role of home care agencies in helping to educate families in a variety of care options

Be sure to check out Help Choose Home Season 3, Episode 5 show notes and our full library of podcasts dedicated to helping families learn more about professional home care options.

The medical and healthcare landscapes are vast and overwhelming, and as a consumer, it's easy to feel like an anonymous face in the crowd. Dr. Michael Fratkin, CEO and founder of ResolutionCare, has been working to improve the care experience for people for most of his career, and founded ResolutionCare based on the idea that people are more than their bodies, more than their diseases, and more than the challenges they face.

Based in Northern California, Dr. Fratkin and his team specialize in providing palliative care for people in the comfort and familiarity of home, utilizing a network of experts who share a commitment to person-centered, at home health care.

In this episode of Help Choose Home, we discuss the:

• Importance of taking care of people, not patients
• Human experience of navigating a chronic or life-limiting disease
• Impact of helping people change how they face serious illness
• Transformative power of telemedicine to level the playing field

Be sure to check out Help Choose Home Season 3, Episode 4 show notes and our full library of podcasts dedicated to helping families learn more about professional home care options.

One of the advantages of home health care is the ability to not only serve clients in their homes, but to provide care for a variety of health needs. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, professional home care services have been on the front lines, and from what our guest, Donna DeBlois, RN, BSW, MSB, MBA, AHCH, CEO and president of MaineHealth Care at Home says, are meeting this call head on.

In this episode we discuss:

• What consumers can expect when looking for care at home
• How home care is prepared to provide services for COVID positive clients
• The role of technology in delivering great care
• How the home care industry provides information and education on the benefits of care at home

Be sure to check out Help Choose Home Season 3, Episode 3 show notes and our full library of podcasts dedicated to helping families learn more about professional home care options.

Now, more than ever, care at home is being looked at as not only a viable solution to help an older loved one remain in a familiar setting, but also as a way to ensure the health and safety of a population that is at heightened risk for complications from COVID-19.

Understanding the important role of home care during the pandemic, in today's episode we welcome Paul Mastrapa, CEO of Help at Home, which has been helping seniors and people with disabilities live independently in their communities for over 45 years. Paul has been in the home care industry for more than 25 years, and as I think you will discover when listening to him speak, he is passionate about the ways in which home care can help older adults remain safe and independent in their homes.

In episode 2 of season 3 we discuss:

• The broad range of services available through home care
• How the health industry is working to assist people both with medical and social issues
• The importance of consumers doing research when selecting care for a loved one
• The role of home care now, during the pandemic, and in the future, as our population continues to age

Be sure to check out Help Choose Home for Season 3, Episode 2 show notes and our full library of podcasts dedicated to helping families learn more about home health care options.

As we learn to navigate life during the coronavirus pandemic, you may be wondering how home health care options have been impacted.

• Are you a family caregiver who has utilized or is considering using in-home care?
• Are you considering moving your parents out of a senior living facility into your own home, but know you will still need caregiving assistance?
• Does your aging parent need help at home, but with COVID-19 as a very real threat to people over the age of 65, you worry about how safe it would be to have a caregiver in your loved one's home?
• Are you like me, a mature adult who feels strongly about aging in place, and you want to know how COVID-19 may have reshaped the home care landscape?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, today's episode is perfect for you.

To kick off Season Three of Help Choose Home, host Merrily Orsini welcomes Lora Masci Weagle, Director of Client Relations, and Adrianne Mann, RN, BSN, MSHA, Executive Director of HCR Home Care, which has been providing in-home care services for clients in upstate New York since 1978. Specifically, we discuss:

• The impact of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 on home health care options
• Enhanced protocol steps HCR Home Care is taking to keep clients and staff safe
• The importance of educating and collaborating with referral sources
• The role of telehealth in connecting with clients to ensure necessary services are continuing
• Lessons from the pandemic that will positively impact home health care going forward

Be sure to check out Help Choose Home for Season 3, Episode 1 show notes and our full library of podcasts dedicated to helping families learn more about home health care options.

Ellie Hollander is the President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America and has been a long-time advocate for the health and wellness of vulnerable seniors throughout her career. One of the most fundamental needs is helping to ensure seniors receive proper nutrition. According to Hollander, research has shown that people who are malnourished age 14 years more than their current age, which in turn creates a variety of health issues. Hunger in Older Adults also found that 33% of older adults admitted to the hospital may be malnourished and that malnourishment can increase healthcare costs by 300%. Taken together, these statistics show the impact on a community when hunger is not addressed. Find out more about what Meals on Wheels is doing to provide seniors with nutritious meals, a friendly visit, and regular safety checks.

Many physicians face a conundrum. While their extensive years of schooling and training emphasize providing care, treatments, and intervention in order to maintain life, the truth is, death is inevitable and a reality we all must face. According to Dr. Timothy Ihrig, a palliative care specialist and chief medical officer at Crossroads Hospice, because the medical field is constructed around the idea of intervening at all costs, patients and families are often put into a position of prolonging death verses preserving life. Committed to patient-centered care, he believes palliative care has the potential to transcend and transform the healthcare system. He is a long standing advocate for treating patients with life-limiting illnesses according to their individual priorities and life goals, and encourages a reframing of the conversation around the ways in which we think about and discuss death and end of life. For him, it's not about dying, but about living.

Although death is an experience that we all share, it is a topic that is largely taboo, and for which people are often wholly unprepared. Barbara Karnes, RN, an award-winning end of life educator and author, is working to change that taboo. According to Karnes, 90% of end of life care work is education. From educating the doctors and nurses to educating the home health caregivers and family caregivers, it's important for everyone to understand that taking care of someone at the end of life is different than taking care of someone who will get better. Join this Help Choose Home podcast, hosted by Merrily Orsini, to learn more.

As those in the home healthcare industry know, the elder population is growing exponentially, as is their need for care. One of the more innovative programs available to help seniors age in place, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, has actually been around for more than 50 years. Shawn Bloom, President and CEO of the national PACE Association, talks about why the model is centered on the belief that it is better for the well-being of seniors with chronic care needs and their families to be served in their community whenever possible.