What is Home Health Care?
Home Health Care is defined as home visits made by health care professionals and workers including Nurses and Personal Support Workers (PSWs). This care is usually provided to individuals and families in their place of residence for promoting, maintaining, or restoring health.
At Retire-At-Home, our Home Health Care services can include both medical and non-medical care services and are provided by both registered and non-registered health care professionals. By accessing our wide range of Home Health Care services, you can receive everything you need to remain comfortable, safe and happy in your home for as long as you choose.
What is Personalized Care?
Retire-At-Home offers personalized care to all our clients. This means that:
- We take the extra time to get to know you as an individual so that we can properly address your every concern.
- We take the extra time to learn about your individual needs and preferences and work out a customized care plan that meets your needs and budget.
- Your services are performed by a hand-picked caregiver that is qualified to meet your personal needs and who has a personality that makes you feel comfortable.
- Your services are scheduled when YOU choose.
We are always a phone call away, 24 hours a day, to listen to you concerns and promptly deal with any home or health care issues.
If I feel that I need help, why should I choose home health care over a retirement home?
When faced with a health concern or a decline in your health, sometimes the option of moving to a retirement home seems inevitable. Home health care is also a viable option to deal with your health concerns. Here’s why:
Home is a place where you feel comfortable and safe and where you have most of your memories. Studies have proven that we heal faster when we are at home.
- You can maintain your complete independence.
- The large majority of retirement home costs include accommodation and food. If you already own your home, these additional expenses need not be incurred.
- In most retirement homes, if you require extra care you must pay for it by the hour – just as you would at home.
- There are many subsidies for home health care. You may be able to access some subsidies for care in your home.
- At Retire-At-Home, our home health care services are customized to your personal needs and preferences – all in the comfort of your own home!
Do you only deal with Seniors?
At Retire-At-Home, our expertise and focus is on Seniors, however, our services are available for anyone who may need assistance with daily personal care. Our caregivers are experienced and well-trained in delivering care to individuals of all ages.
Are there any subsidies available for Home Health Care? If so, can Retire-At-Home help me qualify for these subsidies?
Yes, there are many subsidies that can fully or partially cover home health care services. It is important that you contact us for information on subsidies as it varies from person to person and from year to year.
Please contact us to learn more.
Are your caregivers bonded and insured?
Yes, all our caregivers are bonded and insured.
How do I know that your Caregivers are trustworthy and that I will be safe?
Our rigid screening process ensures that our Caregivers meet the highest standards for delivering health care services. Every staff member has up-to-date criminal record checks and all are legal Canadian citizens. We provide on-going professional training, require annual CPR certification, and have a computer system that notifies us when their individual registrations are due (i.e. nursing registration).
Our Client Care Managers make regular “Supervisory Visits” to your home to ensure that you are receiving the level of care that you expect. The time of these visits is known to you as a client, but is unknown to your caregivers. All our caregivers know that they will receive ‘surprise’ visits from their Supervisors and that they must always be on their best behaviour.
Your safety is our top priority.
How do you select your Caregivers?
At Retire-At-Home, we expect the most out of our employees and we do not simply hire or trust just anyone to take care of our clients. In order to become an employee of Retire-At-Home, a person must meet the following requirements:
The people-skills required to improve the quality of life of our clients.
- A college certificate as a Nurse, Personal Support Worker, Home Support Worker or Health Care Aide, or equivalent/necessary experience in dealing with the ill and/or elderly.
- Annual Criminal Record Check
- Anuual CPR Certification
- Annual Flu Shots
Once an applicant has been hired, they are orientated by our management team. During this orientation, all employees are briefed and tested on our policies and procedures as well as on common laws and practices related to the health care industry. Each employee also meets with each Client Care Manager during which time we ask questions and look for any inconsistencies or problems that may arise.
Under most circumstances, the first shift worked by any employee also includes a visit by one of our Client Care Managers. This helps to ensure that our new employee is following the rules and is given extra supervision on their first-time shift.
Will I have consistency in the caregivers I receive?
Yes. At Retire-At-Home, one of our goals is to provide you with a consistent group of caregivers so that you can begin to develop a relationship with the people who come to your home. We strongly encourage that that each client accepts a minimum of 2 caregivers to alternate shifts; this allows for convenient, familiar backup if one employees gets sick or takes a vacation.
Can I choose the times that my caregiver visits me?
Yes. At Retire-At-Home, you can choose the times of all your visits. Whether you prefer mornings, afternoons, evenings, overnights or weekends, we will work around your schedule. You can also choose the length and frequency of your visits. It’s your choice.
Is there a charge for an Initial Consultation?
There is no charge and no obligation for the initial consultation. The Initial Consultation is booked at your convenience in your place of residence, and is meant for us to get to know you as an individual, and to help you understand your choices for care.
Once we have met with you and given you all the information you need, you can take as much time as you like to decide. We will take the time to understand you, your needs, and address all your concerns without any pressure to accept service.
What happens if my Caregiver is sick?
At Retire-At-Home, your safety and protection is our top priority. If one of our Caregivers is sick, they are firmly instructed to call our office and not to go into work (we do not take any chances when it comes to the potential passing of colds and flues). Once we are notified by our caregiver, we call you to make immediate arrangements that suit your needs and preferences. Often times we call another caregiver that also knows you and have them fill that shift.
Do you provide your personalized services to people already living in nursing homes or retirement homes?
Yes. All our health care services can be provided to you in whatever facility you may be. Our services are completely flexible and can follow you from place to place. For instance, if you have to go into the hospital for surgery, we can supply the extra care in the hospital until and help with your safe return home. For those people who are already living in a nursing home or retirement home, we can provide any additional services that the institution does not.
How do you communicate with family members?
We communicate with designated family members as needed and as requested. We have very strict privacy policies with regards to whom we divulge information and it is therefore very important to establish ahead of time who should be contacted and in what capacity. It is, however, our pleasure to notify family members of changes when they occur.
What does ‘Quick Response’ service mean?
Our Client Care Managers and caregiver team are ready and trained to deal with your clients’ concerns as quickly as possible. Our ‘Quick Response’ processes were designed especially for professionals like you who don’t have time to wait on answers as to whether or not your client can receive immediate service.
At Retire-At-Home we are dedicated to your every request and you can always ensure that we will do everything possible to supply service to your clients as quickly and professionally as possible. We have been known to book 24-hour emergency care within hours and will do our best to provide this type of ‘Quick Response’ service to you too.
Which organizations or professionals have you worked with in the past?
At Retire-At-Home, the majority of our clients come from health care professionals like you. We receive regular referrals from Social Workers and Case Managers from Hospital campuses, as well as from doctors, OTs, PTs, and other professionals who service seniors.
Retire-At-Home has been a Registered Care Provider for Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) for several years. VAC uses us as a trusted source of home health care services for some of the veterans that they serve. Some or all of the services we provide to our Veteran clients are billed directly to VAC.
For more than a decade, we have also worked in conjunction with agencies that provide subsidized care. We begin where the subsidies end. We work together with the current health care team to ensure that the client receives the care they require.
What type of patients/clients do you deal with the most?
Although our expertise and focus is on Seniors, we service anyone who is dealing with a health concern that affects their independence. Our caregivers are well-trained to deliver care to individuals of all ages. Our clients’ needs range from 3 hours of basic housekeeping and companionship to those who need 24-hour palliative care. Our team of Caregivers and Care Managers is experienced and qualified to service any client with home and health care needs.
