Assisting Hands Home Care, Newport Beach owner Judy Brady had her hands full earlier this week as she prepared to meet more than 60 of her fellow Assisting Hands Home Care franchisees who arrived Monday at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa for three days of intense programming devoted to the many issues facing our aging U.S. population.
If you and your family have ever gone through finding care for an aging relative, you can understand how working with someone like Judy can be a true blessing when it comes to guiding a family through what can be a frightening, confusing and frustrating process. I know it was for our family. And with the new healthcare laws also currently unfolding, finding the best course of action is even more daunting.
When my own grandparents needed home help, our family didn’t have someone like Judy to help us through the home care maze. By the time my mom and aunt interviewed a slew of caregivers (none of which my grandmother approved) and tried their hardest to decide on the best course of action, my grandfather took a fall in the middle of the night and was subsequently moved to a memory care facility in Glendale.
Not wanting to live alone in their home of more than 50 years due to her failing eyesight, my grandma moved soon thereafter to an assisting living facility in Laguna Niguel near my mom. Not exactly the perfect solution, but something had to be done and it appeared like the only alternative at the time. In hindsight, I wish we had used a professional service like Assisting Hands to help us keep either or both of them in their own home longer. It was a tough time for our family, and it all seemed to sneak up on us so suddenly.
“Orange County has a significant percentage of people turning 65 who want to age in place in their own homes, and in fact, the fastest growing demographic in the nation are people 85 and older,” says Brady. “As a result, we have seen an explosion in the demand for professionally trained, non-medical in-home care services. The retreat we attended this week was extremely important for my staff and me in terms of understanding all the issues and new laws that families must face when they are looking for the best home care for their aging relatives,” she said.
Of key interest and import to this week’s retreat participants were the sessions addressing the impact of the Affordable Care Act, the significance and savings for families of well-managed transitional care and best practices in today’s technology-driven market place.
Brady says that one of the keys to her success has been her ability to provide discreet and confidential, personalized care which is custom-tailored to each of her client’s specific needs. To do this, she always offers a complimentary in-home safety assessment for anyone considering in-home care. “Building trust and providing peace of mind for our client’s and their families is paramount, and every staff member receives rigorous training and ongoing supervision prior to being placed,” she says.
As the demand for in-home care increases, the need to provide seniors and the disabled with the best care possible is essential to maintaining mental and physical well-being and helps them to avoid unnecessary accidents. Brady and her team are often called upon to provide safe transition-to-home care when a patient leaves the hospital or rehab facility.
This was another lesson we learned the hard way when my grandma went home from a hospital visit and new instructions didn’t get to her primary doctor. She ended up back in the hospital a week later. We could have saved the costly hospital bills and her unnecessary suffering by having a company like Assisting Hands helping us out.
For more information about Assisting Hands Home Care Newport Beach, please visit assistinghands.com/newport-beach or contact Judy at (949) 650-2550.
Columnist Lynn Selich can be reached at Lynn@OCSocialScene.com.
