Five questions to ask when thinking of homecare
PAID CONTENT: Marlinstown Office Park, Mullingar – 044 9385260; www.homeinstead.ie
At Home Instead, we’re proud of the fact that we’re the No 1 provider of quality homecare in Ireland, thanks to our relationship-led person-centred approach.
We understand that finding quality homecare for a loved one is a critical decision for many older people and their families in turn. Finding a provider that can be trusted to provide this vital service is understandably a major life decision.
We believe it’s important to know what qualities to look for from a homecare provider and its people and what resources you can refer to that can help you make an informed decision about the company that will essentially become an extended part of your family.
That’s why we’ve put together the 5 questions below to help you choose a quality homecare company that will help your loved one continue living happily, healthily and as independently as possible in the comfort and familiarity of their own home.
You should always look for companies that offer personalised care plans that reflect a person’s unique requirements – rather than a one-size-fits all approach. Personalised care plans are tailored around people’s life patterns, their likes and dislikes. If someone has been an early riser all their life, their care plan should include care calls that reflect their waking patterns and habits, having a breakfast visit at 11am is simply too late in the day for them. Personalised care covers all those important little things too, having a CAREGiver who knows how a person takes their tea or if they like their toast pale or well done makes a real difference.
Care plans should have tangible outcomes too. If your loved one has been losing weight, CAREGiver visits that encourage cooking nutritious meals together to help bring back appetite and enjoyment of food will boost their overall wellbeing.
Finding ways to prevent elderly loneliness is also important. If a person’s social ties have become broken, a care plan that encourages social activities or that helps to rekindle old friendships would encourage a connection back with life.
Homecare providers often deliver very intimate and personal services, so it follows that any service should be as personalised and consistent as possible.
Something that Home Instead pride ourselves on is matching our clients and CAREGivers based on common interests and hobbies. Once we’ve done that, we then make sure that our clients see the same CAREGivers to build that all important bond of trust and friendship.
At Home Instead, our visits are typically an hour or more because we believe high quality homecare cannot be delivered in less. It would be impossible for our CAREGivers to complete their tasks and also have the time to truly get to know their clients if their visits were shorter.
Loneliness is one of the biggest problems facing older people today. Homecare isn’t just about carrying out a list of tasks, it’s also about providing much needed companionship.
We place a high value on the companionship part of our service, and it’s one of the reasons we spend at least an hour with a client. Our CAREGivers have time to make a cup of tea and chat to our clients, because we know that a person’s health isn’t just about meeting their physical needs.
The internet is a great way to find homecare companies but how do you know which sources to trust? We believe that you should always look for independent reviews and recommendations for any homecare company.
In the absence of government regulation Home Instead offices are audited both internally and externally on an annual basis. Nationally all offices have achieved the ISO:9002 standard. This is a globally recognised quality standard to ensure the highest level of care is being provided.
Choosing a homecare provider, either for yourself or a loved one, can be a stressful process. By asking the five questions above, we believe you can be confident about making the right decision. You can find out more about our services here.