Good To Be Home Care’s caregivers can assist with any or all of your non-medical needs. Whether you need a Home Care Aide right away, or you’re just considering your long term options, we are just a phone call away. Give us a call to discuss your situation. We’d be happy to set up a free assessment of your needs in the comfort and privacy of your home.
Our Services Include:
In the technical language of health care and human service professionals, most of the tasks which a Home Care Aide can help with are referred to as Activities of Daily Living or ADLs. ADLs do not require the intervention or supervision of a health care professional to accomplish them. Because we have all performed these routines so often, we often take them for granted – until our bodies refuse to cooperate. Whenever an individual can’t meet these needs independently, a caregiver will play a vital role.
Needs Assessment:
Common sense and State regulations require that an evaluation of a potential client’s needs must take place before services are initiated. We don’t play fast and loose with this component of our services, but nobody said the process has to be painful! Our Director of Direct Care is a social worker (MSW) who has worked professionally with elderly and disabled clients since 1983 (and was a paid caregiver for years, as well). Brian will come to your home to talk to you and anyone else you want involved. Unlike many agencies, we DO NOT CHARGE for the assessment. He’ll review care needs in a variety of areas, discuss payment options, suggest other services as needed, and develop a personalized Plan of Care with the client and family. This is also a time for interviewing us, and insuring that we can indeed meet your particular needs.
Meal Preparation
At Good To Be Home Care, we understand the importance of nutritious, well-prepared meals prepared to our clients’ individual tastes. Our caregivers pride themselves on their abilities in the kitchen, and are able to follow your recipes. They strive to make mealtime a welcome part of the day, minimizing resistance to any dietary restrictions through great preparation, presentation and service.
Dietary Support
Many of our clients are on modified or restricted diets. Our Home Care Aides are familiar with the principles of good nutrition and the relationship between diet and common health problems. They will support their clients’ special dietary needs as defined in the Plan of Care. Our staff respect their clients’ right to eat and drink what they prefer. If there is a concern about a client’s nutrition, our home care aides report this to their supervisor, who will contact family or physician.
Dishwashing
Prompt and sanitary dishwashing and kitchen cleanup are an important aspect of home care. Naturally, our Home Care Aides will efficiently clean up after their client and themselves, freeing the kitchen for any others in the household. You can be reassured knowing that our employee training covers specific standards for dishwashing and kitchen cleanup.
Sweeping & Tidying Up
The Home Care Aide is responsible for light housekeeping in the client’s living areas in the home. Vacuuming, mopping up spills, cleaning the client’s bathroom, and other maintenance is a routine part of the job. The aide respects the privacy of other family members’ living areas and does not disturb these areas. Heavy cleaning such as window washing and carpet cleaning should be contracted out to those who specialize in such services. We can coordinate these if you wish.
Making Beds
A well-made bed with fresh sheets, fluffed pillows and the covers turned down the way you like is always appreciated. But our home care aides know that proper bedmaking is important to their clients’ health and well-being. Many of our clients have fragile or sensitive skin which is vulnerable to infection. That is why our caregivers will fuss over the smallest wrinkle in the sheets, and likely wash linens more often than expected. They follow accepted clinical practices for infection control and performing linen changes for bed-bound clients. You’ll sleep better knowing that this aspect of home care is in good hands with the staff of Good To Be Home Care.
Laundry
Keeping up with the laundry is a time-consuming and often impossible job for our clients and their family members. Physical limitations keep most of our clients from being able to gather, sort, wash, dry, fold and hang their clothes and other items. Our Home Care Aides will wash the laundry and linens, taking special precautions with soiled items. They will use the detergents and other laundry products you direct, recognizing that allergies and skin conditions often affect those under their care.
Taking Out The Trash
Accumulated trash and garbage is one of the primary warning signs that outside help is needed. Reasons for the buildup of trash are numerous, but whether the cause is memory problems or physical limitations, the mess is easily remedied by hiring a home care agency. Let Good To Be Home Care’s employees take care of this recurring task for you.
Grocery Shopping
Our Home Care Aides are willing and able to shop for their clients’ groceries. They will purchase only those items on the list, and they will not make any of their own purchases on the same receipt. They account for all funds provided for shopping and review the bill with the client or designated representative. The client or the representative determines how they want the payments made. Some grocery stores will allow for an account to be set up so the Home Care Aide will have access to the account in order to shop for the client.
Running Errands
As part of their shift, our Home Care Aides can run errands for their clients, typically before or after they have finished their personal care and other in-home tasks. This frees up friends and family to spend more time with their loved one, or just ensures that errands like picking up prescriptions, dry cleaning and post office visits are taken care of without any hassle.
Accompany to Appointments & Outings:
Coordinating a visit to the doctor can be very challenging for a home bound person with no readily available driver in the home. Clients of Good To Be Home Care don’t have to worry about getting to and from their appointments safely and on time. The same goes for trips to worship, the movies, relatives, or the park. Some agencies have quite restrictive policies and much higher fees for driving, but you’re in good hands with Good To Be Home Care!
Assist in and out of bed, chairs, and car
Getting in and out of bed, chairs, or the car can be very difficult following a stroke, serious fall, muscle atrophy, or many other causes. Whether the need is simply standing by, prompting, full transfer assist to a walker or wheelchair, or using a Hoyer lift, it is imperative that those caring for our clients know safe and effective transfer techniques. For a good tutorial covering safe transfers, check out Transferring
Bathing Assistance
Assistance with bathing can take a variety of forms, including standing by, partial bath, full bath, perineal care, bed bath, sponge bath, or shower assistance. Each method of body hygiene can require partial or full assistance. Each is appropriate for a different care situation. Our Home Care Aides are comfortable with the various techniques for assisting with bathing, and strive to relieve the anxiety that often accompanies this potentially dangerous activity.
Grooming
While many of our clients are fully capable of grooming themselves, others need assistance with shaving, nail care, or combing and brushing their hair. Assistance in applying make-up is another area in which our Home Care Aides can assist their clients. There are restrictions on what an Aide can do for a person with diabetes, or who is taking a blood thinning medication, and these are written into the Plan of Care and strictly adhered to for the client’s safety.
Dressing
Selecting an appropriate outfit for the day can be a challenge for some of our clients. Putting on and removing those clothes can also be a challenge. Socks and hose can be especially frustrating. Patiently and gently, our Home Care Aides will help dress their clients who have dressing assistance needs, assisting them in selecting a clean and comfortable ensemble appropriate for the day’s activities.
Skin Care
While applying prescription ointments and lotions is off-limits to Home Care Aides of a licensed agency like Good To Be Home Care, they can assist with over-the-counter skin care products and topical pain relievers. Several of our Aides are Licensed Massage Therapists, and depending on the agreed upon Plan of Care, may be able to utilize their skills and knowledge in this area of their client care.
Assistance With Self-Medication
Medication assistance is precisely defined by the State of Washington Dep’t. of Health. Our Aides are given careful instruction in what they may and may not do to assist their clients with self-medication. When a client’s needs exceed those that the Home Care Aide can legally perform within her scope of practice, we assist the client in implementing any of a number of alternative solutions to this often difficult issue. We advise that a client or family member not utilize a caregiver or agency representative who is willing to bend the rules in your case. The regulations are only in place for the client’s benefit.
Caring Companionship
While it goes without saying to those of us who work at Good To Be Home Care, our dedication to providing genuinely caring and culturally sensitive companionship must be proven both in word and in deed. We strive to hire friendly, courteous and literate staff who have a knack for tuning in to the emotional and cognitive needs of their clients, as much as to their physical care needs. What may seem like idle chatter to a casual observer may well be a thoughtfully planned conversation designed to increase the client’s emotional and mental well-being based on their individual history and needs. It’s a subtle skill, but one which we feel our clients deserve.
Reminders & Supervision
We work closely with family members when a client’s needs include reminders, cuing, and behavioral management. To the extent that professional standards allow, our staff will follow the household’s tried-and-true routines, and learn the individual’s “red flag” behaviors in order to minimize issues such as agitation, wandering, and non-compliance with medication and dietary needs.
…And More
If you have a special need that is not described above, call us and see if it is within our scope of practice. While we won’t break the rules that govern licensed Home Care Agencies in Washington State, we always strive to provide the most comprehensive and personalized service available.