What To Expect From Home Care

By Angela Kauffman, Snyder Village

Perhaps it’s become evident that your loved one is needing extra help at home. Household tasks are not getting completed, bills aren’t being paid, healthy meals aren’t eaten, or loneliness is setting in. A home care service, like Snyder Village Home Care, can help your loved one stay in their own home by providing a helping hand, companionship, and non-medical care.

If you’ve identified that your parent or loved one needs extra help, you may wonder what your next step should be and what to expect from a home care service. A simple phone call can begin the process. At Snyder Village, our home care team will begin by asking several questions about your loved one’s needs to learn which services would help the most. A home assessment will then be scheduled, where a Snyder Village case manager will come to the home to meet you and your loved one. During the assessment, the case manager will inspect the home for any potential dangers (tripping hazards, mobility barriers, etc.), assess the individual and his/her needs, discuss pricing, and set up a schedule and care plan.

A home care service differs from a home health care service in that it provides only non-medical care. It does not provide medical services like therapy, skilled nursing care, administrating of medications or injections, medical testing, pain management, or wound care. Rather, home care services include personal grooming (help with bathing, dressing, toileting, etc.), meal preparation, light housekeeping, laundry, medication reminders, and transportation for errands or appointments. Companionship is also offered through activities that your loved one enjoys such as playing cards, doing puzzles, or simply conversation.

Once the in-home assessment is complete and a care plan has been created, a service agreement will be signed. All parties involved will have agreed on a schedule, a care plan outlining which tasks will be completed by the caregiver(s), and payment options. Most home care services require private pay; however, many times Veteran’s benefits and long-term care insurance may help cover the cost. With home care service from Snyder Village, you can expect to have your loved one and their property treated with respect and courtesy. Snyder Village will assume the liability of the caregiver, provide day-to-day supervision of the caregiver, and take responsibility of the caregiver’s employment taxes and compensation.

Once the service agreement has been signed, Snyder Village Home Care will assign a trained caregiver for your loved one (or multiple caregivers if extra service is needed). “The client can interview our caregivers themselves if they want, or we will send who we think will be the best fit for that person,” explains Deb Albertson, Snyder Village Home Care Director. “After two or three visits to the client from our caregiver, we will check in with the client and the family to see if it’s a good match. So much of it is if their personalities blend. We give our caregivers as much information as possible about the client to help them get an understanding of their personality and interests. For example, if the client is a big baseball fan, we tell the caregiver and that becomes something they can bond over.”

Margo Tennis, a Snyder Village Home Care client, appreciates the help that home care has been providing since she broke her arm. “They help me with little things like peeling oranges, slicing apples, and getting my mail—things around the house that have become hard since breaking my arm. And they take care of my dusting and clean my bathroom,” says Margo. “It’s so nice to have people come and do part of your routine that you don’t even have to think about.”

Trained caregivers can ease stress for everyone involved by not only taking care of household duties, provide transportation, or help with hygiene and personal care, but they can also be a companion with a listening ear who can offer emotional and intellectual engagement.

“As we get older, we need more help, and home care helps my husband with activities of daily living,” says Margo. “They’ll coach him through shaving and brushing his teeth and help him with showering and getting clothes on. It’s really nice to have caregivers that he’s familiar with and who know his routine. They even schedule enough time so they can watch baseball with him because he loves that… We love the caregivers who come here,” she explains. “They (Snyder Village) send us really good people. That’s the main thing.”

Snyder Village in Metamora is a life plan community that offers independent living in its retirement cottages and apartments. Beautiful assisted living accommodations, memory care programs, skilled nursing care, and physical therapy are also available on campus. Its home care services support individuals in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, and Marshall Counties and can be reached by calling (309) 367-2300. For more information on all that Snyder Village offers, call (309) 367-4300 or visit www.snydervillage.com.