Want to grow your Private Duty Home Care business? Consider working closely with Assisted Living Facilities to provide on-site care for their residents.
Another of the breakout sessions I saw at the National Private Duty Association conference in Atlanta was this one by John Bowling, PhD, Vice President of Silverado Senior Services. John’s company operates senior living centers in California, Utah, and Texas, and John has responsibility for their private duty home care operations. I met John last year at NPDA, and then again yesterday morning in the Fitness Center at the Hyatt.
He gave us some interesting information about the need for home care services in conjunction with senior living centers:
- From 1990 – 2002 the number of residential care beds increased from 20.9 per 10,000 people to 35.6.
- The actual number of beds increased 97%
- The number nursing home beds declined during that same period from 66.7 to 61.4 per 10,000 people.
- 47.2% of the population over the age of 85 have some cognitive impairment
- 76% of people with cognitive impairment live at home
- 25% – 45% of older people living in a retirement center or ALF have chronic pain
- 45% to 85% of nursing home residents report pain that is often untreated
- 10% of people over 65 and 50% of people over 85 experience Alzheimers Disease
- The annual cost of caring for Alzheimers patients exceeds $100 billion
John explained why you may not be getting as many referrals from ALFs as you might expect. They have some fears such as:
- The fear of poor quality of care reflecting on the ALF
- The fear of losing control over the staff
- The fear of losing control over communication
- The fear of being “exposed” for things not being done “right” or “well.”
- The fear of losing residents to private home settings.
In order to overcome these fears, you need to build trust, open communication, and mutual cooperation with the administration and staff of the ALF
John gave us some examples of terrific opportunities for Private Duty Home Care to work with ALFs:
- Move-in transition and stabilization
- Assistance with dimentia care
- Quality of Life enhancement programs
- Change of Condition assistance
- Post-hospitalization / recover assistance
- Helping the client access events and opportunities outside the ALF
For more information, visit the Siverado Senior Services web site:
