FC CAREPARTNERS are dependable, compassionate, and dynamic. As motivated professionals, they enter our program with the hopes of becoming life long learners in the field of home health care.
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fC Progressive Approach to Home Health Care
THE RESEARCH. Born from years of research, FamilyCARES! works every day to be the progressive influence in Pennsylvania's home health care system. When we set out in 2010 to research the status of home care in PA, our goal was to identify best practices in home health care. After completing a full year of research, we took an additional year to analyze our findings and make necessary changes.
We found that Pennsylvania's home care agencies, in general, were not satisfying the high expectations set forth by family members. Between 2010 and 2050, the 85-and-older population is expected to more than triple. We asked ourselves, "If families were not pleased with their level of care now (when the population of seniors has only reached 20% of its perspective capacity), what will families be saying in 2030?" We determined that senior home care agencies needed to offer care with higher levels of precision, they needed to be consistently maintaining standards of reliability, and they needed to hire dynamic professionals with real certifications. Most importantly, the directors of these agencies needed to create more meaningful relationships with their client' families. Our research team was not able to find a single agency that satisfied our identified categories of safety and quality. Simply put, Pennsylvania's communities needed smaller agencies that were willing to work intimately with their clients. One of the most prevalent problems we found while researching PA's home care agencies was a reoccurring issue of "caregiver" happiness. As a whole, traditional "caregivers" felt underpaid and replaceable. One woman who worked for a larger agency told researchers, "If you've never been arrested, you can get hired here. Who am I gonna complain to about my $9.00 dollars an hour? The person taking my job?" We couldn't believe it, this employee was getting paid the national average of $9.00 per hour! The matriarch of a well respected family was being supported by a "caregiver" who was underpaid and under-appreciated by the agency for which she worked. |
Learn more about the FamilyCARES! way...
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We started to wonder why families were choosing to stay with agencies that underpaid their staff and had low expectations for client care. The answer: Because the information was never offered, client families never knew to ask. After realizing that the care they were receiving was sub-par, switching services often proved to be too emotionally draining. They tended to remain with what they knew, even though they were receiving insufficient service.
In traditional home care agencies, if an agency has 15 clients, this means that they are employing 30 to 40 part-time caregivers that are commonly dispatched using texting software. Most larger agencies have at least one-hundred clients and employ anywhere from 150 to 200 caregivers on a part-time basis. These larger agencies depend on software programs to send out mass text messages/emails to "on-call" caregivers. When a caregiver responds first to the message they "get the job." While there are many very talented individuals working in the home care industry, this number of clients and caregivers is just too high. Even with a set of seasoned supervisors, accountability starts to fade when you take on too many clients. Eventually, the hiring process becomes rapid rather than careful, supervisors become overwhelmed and caregivers begin to feel under-appreciated. Large-franchised agencies have a very difficult time ensuring that all employees remain accountable. At FamilyCARES!, we keep our client base small, we stick to our monthly schedules, and we never rely on software to dispatch care professionals. ESTABLISHING THE CHANGE. We focused on the following aspects of quality home health care when we built FC.
1. Delivering and Communicating Precise Services 2. Consistency of CAREPARTNER and Reliability of Services 3. Training and Hiring of Qualified Professionals Delivering and Communicating Precise Services When we first meet a client's family, our job is to learn. Instead of displaying our resources and bombarding you with information, Paul listens to your needs and simply gets to know you. Only after a genuine trust is established between family and agency can quality home care services be delivered. After all, what good is having a service if you spend the day worrying about the professionals who are providing care to your loved one? In our research, we found that most primary interviews were completed by supervisors. We changed that. Our founding director, Paul Goldbeck, conducts every family/client interview. Paul designed the program and feels that by participating in the primary introductions he can make our intentions clear. After the primary meetings, Paul continues to be directly involved in your loved one's care. Our CAREPLANS are made specific to our clients needs. Approximately 12-24 hours goes into the creation of each client's CAREPLAN. We analyze your survey answers, we identify abilities, disabilities, and interests, and then write a one-of-a-kind plan of care that appropriately supports your needs. At FamilyCARES! we believe that there is no such thing as too much communication. We utilize email, texting, phone calls, and our software program to ensure our client's family is informed. Paul guarantees frequent personal home visits that are accompanied by an email follow-up and phone call to discuss your loved one's progression. With our ClearCare software program, all CAREPLANS can be viewed in real-time. This means that if you have access to the internet or 3/4G, you can view your loved one's CAREPLAN as it is being updated by your CAREPARTNER. Consistency of CAREPARTNER and Reliability of Services Unlike most agencies, we can guarantee that you have the same CAREPARTNER for every day of the month. For example, if your loved one is most comfortable with Brenda, if you fill out our monthly schedule and identify Brenda as your desired CAREPARTNER, Paul will lock her in for the month. We have a binding schedule, allowing our clients to gain peace of mind knowing that their CAREPARTNER will be present during their scheduled days. We designed our entire home care program around the premise of reliability. We hire detailed-oriented professionals who enjoy having a set monthly schedule. fC CAREPARTNERS are always on time, rain/snow/sleet/sun we never cancel, and our CAREPLANS are always completed. Training and Hiring of Qualified Professionals From the beginning, our goal was to hire coachable professionals who showed evidence of exceptional ability. We wanted to attract professionals that could safely implement CAREPLANS while maintaining a level of sustainable creativity in everyday activities. When we interview our candidate CAREPARTNERS, we are ultimately answering a single question: "Would we allow this professional to enter our own home and partner with our own Mom?" Two background checks, seven reference checks, an on-going fC training program, Department of Aging Training Program completion, five steps of 150 question exams, and two interviews equate to a single question: "Do I trust them to work with my Mom?" Compared to other agencies who experience an annual caregiver turnover rate of 100%, our CAREPARTNERS are motivated to perform at high levels just to maintain their status within our network. Because our CAREPARTNERS are well-respected and well-compensated, we experience very low employee turnover. When we do, the interview process is demanding, the training is thorough, and our exams require our employees to master their craft. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How is FamilyCARES! different? Find Out...HERE! |
