Choosing Home Care Services That Meet Your Needs

Hullabalog is pleased to welcome back Katherine Nixon ’90.  Katherine is a CPA who enjoys helping business professionals and retirees. Although she has several designations, none are as meaningful to her as the life experiences of many clients and family members which have shaped her career. Katherine enjoys speaking on different tax-advantaged longevity planning strategies and giving workshops which help others reach their goals. Helping families plan ahead to leave a legacy that is more just their money is her stated purpose. She write articles and provides workshops on retirement decisions, extended care choices, and estate tax planning opportunities.  Katherine has been honored with awards from her peers for her continued efforts to help others. Her firm was recently honored and ranked #20 in the 2010 Aggie 100 from the Mays School of Business. The Aggie 100 identifies, recognizes and celebrates the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or led businesses in the world.   ♦

Enjoy her post and please share your comments.

Making the decision to hire a home care service to provide care for your loved one is an important decision and can, at the same time, be very difficult. If an illness or recovery from surgery requires nursing care or physical therapy, a physician may order skilled home care services that provide both skilled providers and personal aides. Your decision is then based on the obvious medical determinations made by the doctor. But what if you as the family caregiver must determine the extent of care needed without the help of a doctor?

Each home care situation is unique. In the beginning, family or friends step in to help with simple tasks and support for aging seniors who want to stay in their homes. As long term care needs progress, more time is required to manage those needs. Physical and mental conditions change with aging making usually routine hygiene and daily living activities difficult for an aging individual. Even with the healthiest of seniors, the ability to drive a car, shop for groceries or do general housekeeping eventually needs to be relinquished to the responsibility of another person.

In one example, Karen, would stop by her parents’ home on her way to work every morning and again on her way home from work in the evening. She checked in the morning to see that they were up and ready for the day and Karen would take a shopping list for things they needed. In the evening she delivered the needed items she had purchased during her lunch break and sometimes she fixed a meal when one was not prepared by her mother. This worked well until Karen began to notice her father did not shave or dress during the day and both parents were forgetting their medications. Karen felt more time and supervision was needed in their care but with her own family and job, she could not do it. Non-medical or personal home care services would be a good option for Karen to consider.

Before starting your search for a non-medical or personal home care company, determine what the care needs are and how much time each week will be required for assistance from the company. You may want to consult with the family physician and other family members as well as experienced social workers or care managers to determine needs. Most home care companies, as well, will help you do an assessment at no charge. With your care needs in hand, you are ready to begin your search.

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (http://www.nahc.org/home.html) gives the following guidelines and checklist in searching for a home care company.

• How long has this provider been serving the community?
• Does this provider supply literature explaining its services, eligibility requirements, fees, and funding sources? Many providers furnish their home care clients with a detailed “Patient Bill of Rights” that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the providers, clients, and family caregivers alike.
• How does this provider select and train its employees? Does it protect its workers with written personnel policies and malpractice insurance? Does it protect clients from theft or abuse by bonding its employees?
• Does this provider assign supervisors to oversee the quality of care clients are receiving in their homes? If so, how often do these individuals make visits? Who can the client and his or her family members call with questions or complaints? How does the company follow up on and resolve problems?
• What are the financial procedures of this provider? Does the provider furnish written statements explaining all of the costs and payment plan options associated with home care?
• What procedures does this provider have in place to handle emergencies? Are its caregivers available on notice?
• How does this provider ensure client confidentiality?

If a home care company has not previously been recommended to you, ask for a list of previous clients and call for their experience with this provider.

Following up on these guidelines can help you determine the quality of personal care that is given. Many states license non-medical home care companies and require both legal and health standards to be maintained.

Read about individual home care companies in your area on the National Care Planning Council’s website www.longtermcarelink.net.    You may contact me, KatherineNixon.com for comprehensive advice.

Want to share your professional experiences and business expertise with other Aggies?  Hullabalog welcomes and relies on guest bloggers.  Drop me a note at msnyder91@hullabalog.com if you’d like to contribute some content. Once or frequently, it’s up to you

My Final Four on the Cheap Experience

Considering the way Monday night’s NCAA Men’s Championship game played out, historic futility and all, I guess you can’t say that I had one of those “Priceless” moments, but I came pretty darn close.  I was excited to have the Final Four in Houston and wanted to experience as much as I could work in around my job, little league games and so on.  Being a cheapskate, I also wanted to experience as much as I could for as little money as possible.

Here’s a rundown of my Final Four on the Cheap experience.

Thursday’s State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships
I hadn’t really considered going down to Hofheinz Pavilion for this event until my wife called and said that there was one of those daily deal emails that was offering half price tickets.  Hey, it’s part of the Experience, my 10 year old daughter and six year old son, both recently finishing their basketball seasons, would have fun and it’s half price.  So we went and had a great time.  The kids left with several autographs, they got their picture taken with YouTube sensation Jacob Tucker, winner of the Slam Dunk Contest

 

This is what you can do with a 45" vertical leap.

and my daughter even got to hold the Women’s 3-Point Championship trophy won by Cerie Mosgrove of Massachusetts.

Cost: $17.50 for tickets + $12.25 for drinks and popcorn.  Well worth the $29.75.

 

NCAA Final Four Friday (Team Practices & Reese’s College All-Star Game)
This was something I definitely wanted to go check out.  After all, tickets were free.  Even more remarkable, so was parking at Reliant Stadium.

On Friday the NCAA opened up all of the teams’ workouts to fans.  Each team took the floor for about an hour and that evening there was an All Star game featuring top seniors from around the country.  My plan was to head down there during lunch, hang out for awhile and go back to work.  But my Experience received a major upgrade earlier in the week when I happened to get through to Charlie Pallilo’s show on 790AM KBME during a trivia contest. The first two guys missed their questions, the next one disappeared and I was next.  I correctly answered (within the +/- 1 tolerance) the question, “How many titles has Kentucky won?” and was the winner of two tickets for the day’s events in a courtside VIP area,  passes to a hospitality area where we were served some pretty good barbecue (all-u-can-eat might I add) and the chance to hear Clemson head coach Brad Brownell give a little chalk talk and Q&A.  So I went down there with a friend and we had a blast during a longer than normal lunch.

Cost: $10 for a Final Four program

NCAA Men’s Championship Game
I wasn’t sure whether or not to be excited or disappointed for the city of Houston to host the first Final Four without a No. 1 or 2 seed.  I leaned toward disappointed because it would have been great to have three or four powerhouse programs in town,  but part of the greatness of this event is the whole underdog story.  You want underdogs?  We had two in VCU and Butler. I did not attend either game on Saturday and did not have a ticket for the Championship.  It wasn’t until Monday that I decided to continue my Final Four on the Cheap mission and try to make it to the game as inexpensively as possible.  This is where the Experience became lots of fun.

After work I headed downtown to park and take the train to Reliant Stadium.  No way was I going to part with $35 just to park at the stadium.  Well, after 6PM all metered parking spaces downtown are free.  I parked at 6:15.  Then I hit McDonald’s and had dinner for $3.86.  A few minutes later I was on the train headed to the stadium with a $2.50 roundtrip ticket.  Once at the stadium I started working the incoming fans and, um, “ticket professionals” for a ticket for the first sporting event I’ve ever attended by myself.  I start a little after 7PM (tipoff is promptly at 8:23) and at 7:45 I score a ticket for $20.  Not a great one, but I’m in.

Does this qualify as nosebleed?

My only remaining purchase is a souvenir drink.  $5.75 later, plus a little walking to find a concession stand that actually had cups in stock and I have a drink and souvenir.

While the game may not have been so great, the atmosphere was and I was thrilled to soak it all in.  I stayed til the end, watched UCONN cut down the nets and left after One Shining Moment concluded.  It was truly an awesome Experience.

Cost: $3.86 for dinner + $2.50 for transportation + $20 for a ticket and $5.75 for a drink.  Total for the Championship Game Experience: $32.11.

By the time the Championship Game was over I had attended several events and had a great time at each.  I’m looking forward to 2016 when the Final Four returns to Houston and I’m either doing on the cheap again or going all out.

Total cost of my Final Four on the Cheap Experience: $71.86.

Want to share your professional experiences and business expertise with other Aggies?  Hullabalog welcomes and relies on guest bloggers.  Drop me a note at msnyder91@hullabalog.com if you’d like to contribute some content. Once or frequently, it’s up to you.

Lack of Focus

Hullabalog is pleased to welcome Tiffany Sunday ’89. Tiffany is Founder of Dillon 5, a product development and marketing strategy company in Dallas. Tiffany graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Communications and later obtained an MBA from SMU. She has over twenty years’ experience developing and launching new products in the marketplace. Tiffany is an active speaker, a strong supporter of the startup community, and has been a featured guest on CNN 1190.  ♦

Enjoy her post and please share your comments.

“Lack of Focus” has become a media hot topic. Recently, the Wall Street Journal and FastCompany ran articles about employees and families having technology induced ADD from emails and texting. These articles brought to light the negative impacts of America’s love affair with its iPhones and Blackberries. America’s hyper focused PDA’s has created an inverse lack of focus when working. Too many ideas, too many comments, feedback and newsfeeds coming at companies and employees at lightning speed.

March Madness – Hullabalog Hoops Challenge

March Madness is here and that means that the folks at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. have published their analysis of the impact of the tournament on employee productivity.  The most interesting aspect to this year’s analysis is the delivery of the broadcasts.  It also means that the 2nd Annual Hullabalog Hoops Challenge is here and you are invited to participate (use hullabaloghoops to enter). After all, we don’t want to bring Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ averages down, do we?

Enjoy their analysis and please share your comments.

The Outcome Is Up To You

Hullabalog is pleased to welcome back Warren Barhorst ’88. Warren graduated with a BS in Industrial Distribution and was a member of the 12th Man Kickoff Team. As the top insurance agent and CEO of the Barhorst Insurance Group, author of Game Plan…The Definitive Playbook for Starting and Growing Your Business and Managing Principal of Renovo Partners LLC , Warren is recognized as an excellent leader, entrepreneur, sales person, consultant and coach to countless number of insurance agents, sales professionals and entrepreneurs through-out the United States. His insights are candid, insightful and provide inspiration to make changes in your business to take it to the next level. ♦

Enjoy his post and please share your comments.

I had the opportunity to hear Ken Jones who is the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston. U of H has the top ranked Entrepreneurship program in the country and Ken has the business success and experience to help all of us gain a better understanding of where we are headed and how to take control of our future. Ken’s presentation was very enlightening and I want to share some of his wisdom with you. Ken’s speaking style is one that gets you to think about what he has just said so I am going to ask you some of the questions he asked our lunch group.

Social Media Mistakes: Gettngslizzerd and Getting Sued

Hullabalog is pleased to welcome back Mr. Jim Thomas ’80. Jim spends his days (and not a few nights) worrying about the concerns, legal and otherwise, of privately-held business, whether his own, the law firm of Minor & Brown, or those of his clients. Jim and his wife met at that Law School in Austin, but have been loving life in Colorado ever since. ♦

Enjoy his post and please share your comments.

Bless the business that shares its mistakes so that others may learn from the experience. Such stories are some of the best uses of social media. The community learns from itself. This week, my community brought me two stories that bring to life advice I’ve given in some recent seminars and in this blog.