What to expect when you call Healthy at Home Caregivers.
Oftentimes it is difficult to get someone to admit that they need a little help, whether they need simple companion care or something more intensive. Once they do agree to look into care your next step is going to be to get in touch with a home care agency like Healthy at Home Caregivers. The onboarding process is likely to be similar for most caregiving agencies but this week we’re going to go into detail about the Healthy at Home client onboarding process.
Contact us!
The first step is always going to be reaching out to us. On this site you can find a form submission page under the Contact Us tab at the top of the page. There you’ll be able to type a message regarding why you’re reaching out as well as some information on how to contact you. Upon receiving a form submission, the Healthy at Home office will reach out within 24 hours to get a little more information regarding the situation and the potential client.
Not wanting to wait? No problem, feel free to call our office any time! If you happen to miss our office hours there will still be someone to take your message and pass it along to the office staff.
Setting up a consultation
As the office staff gets more information regarding your loved one, they’ll be filling out a client inquiry form with information about the client and the person calling as a point of contact. While some people do call and arrange for their own care, often it is someone who is already involved in whatever care the potential client already has going on and we like to have contact information for them in case of emergency.
Even though they are getting information during the initial phone call, the office staff will then ask when the caller and potential client are available for an assessment. Over the years we have realized that we have more success staffing caregivers with clients when we’ve had the chance to have an assessment with the client there and as active as possible. Actually speaking and interacting with the client gives the assessor the chance to gauge their abilities without the hopeful bias family members often have.
With the rise of COVID the staff at Healthy at Home Caregivers has shifted to holding most of our assessments over Zoom video calls for the time being. While it may not be an ideal situation, we are doing our best to minimize any possible risk of getting anyone sick.
What to expect during the assessment?
During the assessment the staff will ask more in-depth questions about the potential client’s health. We’ll ask everything from how their appetite is to questions about incontinence so that we can make sure no information slips through the cracks. Our goal is to give your loved one the best care possible and to do that we try to get as much information about them as possible before we start care.
After completing the health assessment, we will move on to the home assessment. It’s important to know what we’re walking into for the safety of caregivers and clients alike. We’ll ask about smoke alarms, hand railings, and the placement of phones and emergency numbers so that we can ensure the safety of everyone involved in a case.
Beginning Care
After the assessment the office staff will send the client or primary contact an email containing our client handbook and a care contract. The contract will have the rate that was agreed upon as well as space for specific requests for care and will need to be sent back to the office for the client’s file before care can begin. Usually by this time we’ll already have a caregiver in mind for the client and they will be ready to start care as soon as everything is settled and agreed upon.
The process can seem daunting; It’s one more thing to fit into your busy day and sometimes it feels like there’s no point. After all, why not just do the caregiving yourself if you have to so much to get started? That’s why we here at Healthy at Home Caregivers try to make the process as quick, easy, and straightforward as possible.
