A WAY TO STAY Home Care Yardley Newtown PA

Devon and I have turned our compassion into action. We serve a vulnerable population of older adults in their quest to stay independent at home.  We get service –

This video is worth the time.

My sister Devon and I admire what families do to keep their aging parents home; we consider it a spiritual Act of Service.  We find that families don’t think what they do is extraordinary – it’s just what family does for family.  They act as Geriatric Care Managers and cobble together amazing caregiving and life style solutions so their aging loved ones can continue to remain at home.

When families finally call us in to help them it’s almost always an emergency healthcare situation with their aging parent.  Something has happened to the elder and at long last the family network has been stretched so thin it’s close to breaking and the family can no longer provide all the necessary care.   

By the time families call in the “troops” (Home Care Agencies like A WAY TO STAY) they are physically, emotionally and spiritually depleted and it’s our job to help realign caregiving responsibilities so the heavy lifting falls on our caregivers instead of family members.

 My point is that families need to remember that taking care of your parents is usually a marathon not a sprint; you must practice physical, emotional and spiritual self care to continue to help your loved one for the long run.   The Alzheimer’s Association just released updated facts and figures related to this disease and its impact on families (some 15 million people) who provide care for their aging parents or loved ones.  

• Caregivers not only suffer emotionally but also physically. Because of the toll of caregiving on their own health, Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers had $7.9 billion in additional health care costs in 2010.
• More than 60 percent of family caregivers report high levels of stress because of the prolonged duration of caregiving and 33 percent report symptoms of depression.

We know not everyone can afford Private Duty Home Care but if you can – get help now.  If you can’t afford Private Duty call your Area Agency on Aging and find out if your parents qualify for care subsidized by the Agency.

 Home care counselors at A WAY TO STAY Home Care are available to talk with you about your needs.  A WAY TO STAY is a home care agency providing In-Home Care in Yardley.

Kristen Gerencher from MarketWatch gives 5 questions to ask before hiring a home care aide or taking on the role yourself.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The signs can hit you quickly or sneak up on you gradually. But what do you do if Mom or Dad isn’t safe living alone anymore?
“The worst thing you can do is ignore it,” said Bob Mecca, principal of Robert A. Mecca & Associates, an independent, fee-only financial planning firm in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
If an elderly relative starts to need help to get through the day, families who want to avoid institutions often face two choices: hire a home care aide or become one yourself. Both these options allow the older person to remain at home where he or she may be most comfortable, experts say, but each has its own pitfalls.
Families who choose outside help must decide what level of care their loved one requires and whether they want to go through an agency or hire a caregiver privately. And people who join the ranks of the 65 million unpaid family caregivers in the U.S. can face health-draining burnout if they don’t budget for respite care for themselves.
There are two main kinds of in-home care. Personal or home-care aides provide companionship and support a person’s activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, preparing meals and doing laundry. Home health care aides may do all those things plus tasks such as administering medication or recording changes in a client’s condition. They also may work under a nurse’s supervision.
Here are five questions to consider when thinking of hiring or becoming a caregiver.
1. What kind of care do you need and can you afford?
If you don’t know what kind of care is needed, a specially-trained geriatric care manager can help you assess the situation by doing a site visit. Assessments cost $500 to $800 depending where you live, said Stan Samples, communications director for the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Its website, Caremanager.org, can match you with local geriatric care managers.
The Alzheimer’s Association offers an always-open phone line at 1-800-272-3900 and an online CareFinder tool at www.Alz.org/carefinder. And Medicare’s website has a Home Health Compare tool at www.Medicare.gov/HHCompare.
Before looking for a home-care worker, families need to make sure they can afford to hire one, Mecca said.
Families typically pay for these services out of their pockets unless the older person meets Medicare’s coverage conditions or has a private long-term care insurance policy that covers such needs.
Agencies’ hourly rates often are towards the top of the scale while caregivers who work independently are typically less expensive.
Rates vary widely but are often $14 to $22 an hour for nonmedical in-home care, said Jim McCabe, president of Eldercare Resources, a geriatric care-management company in Scottsdale, Ariz. Still, home care is often less pricey than assisted-living facilities, which can run $2,800 to $4,400 a month, he said.
2. Should you hire an independent worker directly or go an agency?
The advantage of using a home-care agency is it takes responsibility for screening and supplying aides and paying their wages, taxes and insurance in the event they get hurt on the job, said Ethan Kassel, a geriatric care manager and co-owner of Garden State Eldercare, a home-health agency in South Orange, N.J.
Agencies also run criminal background and driving-record checks, and they provide back-up aides should your main caregiver get sick or go on vacation.

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Home care counselors at A Way to Stay are available to talk with you about your home care. A Way to Stay is a home care agency providing Home Care in Yardley. Call 215.321.5100 to speak with Home Care Advisor today!