Assessing the Holidays

All business have "seasons." Beach resorts make most of their income during the summer while ski resorts make their bounty during the winter. Gym memberships have a tendency to "perk up" after January 1st (new year's resolutions and all) and of course the gift under the tree for many retail business during Christmas season is supposed to be increased sales.

In the homecare industry, however, business is not nearly as predictable. Let's face it, most people can't predict when they may become ill or injured and find they're in need of a trained caregiver. Still, in homecare there are some general business trends you notice. The summer, for example, is usually a little slower for whatever reasons.

And in that same breath, business tends to pick-up over the holidays and into the new year. The reason seems to be that often times sons and daughters (or grandsons and granddaughters) come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and find that a particular family member may not be doing as well as when the last time they saw them. Perhaps they're not moving quite as well or their eyesight seems to be a little less sharp and concern starts to grow.

Obviously, when coming home for the holidays, ideally one hopes to rest, relax, keep the drama to a minimum and enjoy the time with family and friends. Still, if you are concerned about a particular family member and whether or not they may need a little extra assistance, there are a couple of small things you can observe that might help give you an indication.

* Does the house, kitchen or even bathroom look a little more unkempt than usual.
* Has laundry begun to pile up
* Do you notice that maybe their pill boxes seem to be filled when they should be empty or empty when they should be filled
* Are they no longer changing clothes daily and maintaining personal hygiene

These are obvious but important examples that it might be time to at least consider having someone come in once a day, once a week or even just once a month to offer some assistance. From meal preparation, light housekeeping and even medication reminders to more personal care needs, a caregiver can offer your loved one not a life of dependence, but rather the ability to maintain independence.

At Right at Home, we offer free, in-home assessments. We'll come to the home and meet with family members and together help figure out what, if any, assistance may be needed. And there's no obligation for you to sign-up with Right at Home to provide a caregiver at the time of the assessment or ever. But if you do find that bringing a caregiver in would be a good idea, we'll be there to help if you want us to. To set-up an assessment with Right at Home, feel free to call us anytime at 818-956-5905.