Blog #3: Home Care
1. Home care - this is what Dad is getting currently, we have carers coming into the house to look after him. The positives of "home care" is Dad is staying in his house, where he and my Mom brought up five daughters. Dad's house he is very familiar, as he is partially sighted. There are so many memories for my Dad at his home. By Dad staying at home he has his independence and hopefully will keep fit for a long time. Dad has people coming to his house and making sure he is alright. The disadvantage of "home care" is if Dad was to have a fall, although he wears a pendant and can call for emergency help, he may be left there until someone calls. This is obviously a concern at the moment as Dad is left on his own at night. It is a worry for me as Dad is not getting any younger and anything could happen to him at home on his own.
2. I have not hear of Home Instead as a provider of "home care", I do not know where they are based and I have never heard of any friends/colleagues speak of this provider.
3.a)The web site looks professional, clear and user friendly. I could find straight away my local offices for Home Instead.
b)Home Instead offers help and support for your loved one on an individual basis and will meet all of your loved ones needs.
c) and d) Yes, your approach is important to me. I really like the offer of Companionship Services as most care agency I have seen seem to only offer Personal Care Services and also some of the Home Help Services. I think the generation of my Dad are very robust and independent and sometimes all they need is some Companionship. As my Dad has got older a lot of his friends and family have died so they are limited with the amount of companions they would have to visit. All of the services under the Companionship Services but especially:
All of the services are really good, I am very impressed.
e) I don't think there is anything that does not appeal to me. I think it is great to have such choice and depending upon the person they can select what service they require. On the list there are things that would really suit my Dad and there are things he would never want to be involved with. It would all depend upon the individual but you appear to have captured everything.
4. a) I have to say Home Instead seems a very good fit for my Dad as it covers the Companionship Services and that is what Dad needs more of at home or in the future. I think it covers so many options that it would mean that Dad could stay longer in his own home. If Dad was taken out regularly then he would be more fulfilled and then keener to have the next day relaxing. There are so many options that would keep Dad busy and having company.
b) I wonder what the cost would be for the services of Home Instead. It may be an issue if there was some person Dad really enjoyed their company and then they left Home Instead. I guess it would be good to see what the staff turnover was like. I would like to see latest CQC inspection reports to see if there are any concerns with the service provided. I think if I had any concerns with Home Instead as long as there is someone to speak to and you can discuss any issues.
c) I would definitely have a look at Home Instead and see what they can offer Dad in the future, thankfully not required at the moment but there are a lot of services that Dad may need. I guess if Dad required additional help, then it would be a long term option. It all depends on Dad's health. I guess there may be a time when "home care" does seem non-optimal, this would be when Dad requires 24 hour help and it may be more beneficial at that time for Dad to go into a residential home. It all depends upon his health and how he is emotionally. I think with the older people it can be so unpredictable. We saw this with my mother-in-law, she was unable to manage at home so she went into a residential home. If we had know of "Home Instead" we would have contacted them to see what was available for my Mother-in-law to stay longer at home. I guess it was hard on my Mother-in-law because she had a few falls at home and it was a really worry in case she feel and was left there for days.
5. I think Home Instead would be really suited to older people that love going out and are very sociable and would like to still continue meeting there friends. They would be able to be taken out for days and still feel part of their group.
I am sure the carer would become their friend and they could have a lovely time together.
I think where your service is different is because it offers a wide variety of services which the other care agencies do not have this option.
As I said my Dad isn't the most sociable person and he is very quiet, so not sure Home Instead would really help him at the moment and his current situation is working alright. If things change I would definitely look to investigating Home Instead.
6. I think you need to promote "Home Instead" you could put adverts in doctors surgery's, hospitals and have speakers coming to church groups to promote your company.
The advert is:
2. I have not hear of Home Instead as a provider of "home care", I do not know where they are based and I have never heard of any friends/colleagues speak of this provider.
3.a)The web site looks professional, clear and user friendly. I could find straight away my local offices for Home Instead.
b)Home Instead offers help and support for your loved one on an individual basis and will meet all of your loved ones needs.
c) and d) Yes, your approach is important to me. I really like the offer of Companionship Services as most care agency I have seen seem to only offer Personal Care Services and also some of the Home Help Services. I think the generation of my Dad are very robust and independent and sometimes all they need is some Companionship. As my Dad has got older a lot of his friends and family have died so they are limited with the amount of companions they would have to visit. All of the services under the Companionship Services but especially:
- Help with reading (as Dad is partially sighted)
- Accompany for lunch - Dad loves to be taken to the pub.
- Escort to appointment
All of the services are really good, I am very impressed.
e) I don't think there is anything that does not appeal to me. I think it is great to have such choice and depending upon the person they can select what service they require. On the list there are things that would really suit my Dad and there are things he would never want to be involved with. It would all depend upon the individual but you appear to have captured everything.
4. a) I have to say Home Instead seems a very good fit for my Dad as it covers the Companionship Services and that is what Dad needs more of at home or in the future. I think it covers so many options that it would mean that Dad could stay longer in his own home. If Dad was taken out regularly then he would be more fulfilled and then keener to have the next day relaxing. There are so many options that would keep Dad busy and having company.
b) I wonder what the cost would be for the services of Home Instead. It may be an issue if there was some person Dad really enjoyed their company and then they left Home Instead. I guess it would be good to see what the staff turnover was like. I would like to see latest CQC inspection reports to see if there are any concerns with the service provided. I think if I had any concerns with Home Instead as long as there is someone to speak to and you can discuss any issues.
c) I would definitely have a look at Home Instead and see what they can offer Dad in the future, thankfully not required at the moment but there are a lot of services that Dad may need. I guess if Dad required additional help, then it would be a long term option. It all depends on Dad's health. I guess there may be a time when "home care" does seem non-optimal, this would be when Dad requires 24 hour help and it may be more beneficial at that time for Dad to go into a residential home. It all depends upon his health and how he is emotionally. I think with the older people it can be so unpredictable. We saw this with my mother-in-law, she was unable to manage at home so she went into a residential home. If we had know of "Home Instead" we would have contacted them to see what was available for my Mother-in-law to stay longer at home. I guess it was hard on my Mother-in-law because she had a few falls at home and it was a really worry in case she feel and was left there for days.
5. I think Home Instead would be really suited to older people that love going out and are very sociable and would like to still continue meeting there friends. They would be able to be taken out for days and still feel part of their group.
I am sure the carer would become their friend and they could have a lovely time together.
I think where your service is different is because it offers a wide variety of services which the other care agencies do not have this option.
As I said my Dad isn't the most sociable person and he is very quiet, so not sure Home Instead would really help him at the moment and his current situation is working alright. If things change I would definitely look to investigating Home Instead.
6. I think you need to promote "Home Instead" you could put adverts in doctors surgery's, hospitals and have speakers coming to church groups to promote your company.
The advert is:
HOME INSTEAD
As
you get older
it because more difficult to stay in your own home. It is now possible to stay at home longer contact
“Home Instead”
One of the services available is
Companionship Services, never miss out on an adventure again.
The
other services available are Home-help services and Personal Care Services.
Only a phone call
away and talk to our friendly staff to meet your individual requirements.
Home Instead is
only becoming more popular.
JOIN
TODAY!!!!!!
Hi Katherine,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all of your great feedback here. Will you please explain what you mean by this statement, "I could find straight away my local offices for Home Instead"?
Hello - I had never heard of Home Instead, I was impressed with the web site and it was very clear to enter my postcode to find the nearest offices for Home Instead. I just wanted to state her impressed I was with finding the information.
ReplyDelete