Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Today marks the one year anniversary that I have been writing this newsletter. It seems like it went by so fast without any changes. However, there have been many changes. We have sponsored several conventions and meetings this past year, we’ve done presentations to local groups on the state of home care in general, the Veterans home in Minneapolis has gone through trauma with being fined by the state for lack of care, my mom passed away in May and the list goes on and on. Needless to say, there has been change that we have had to adapt to.

I wanted to write about the benefits of home care again in this ever changing world. November has been set aside as “National Home Care and National Hospice Month” to honor the men and women who have dedicated their lives to caring for others. A time for us to say thanks.

Traditionally delivered at patients’ homes throughout the centuries, home care is the oldest form of health care. It is also the newest.

Modern technology has evolved to the point where virtually anything that is available in a hospital can also be provided at home. And there is significant evidence that home care is less costly than other forms of care.

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice believes we as a society need to re-examine the reasons why home care is a viable, cost saving model of health care delivery. Here are just a few of the many reasons to consider home care:

1. Home care helps the elderly maintain their independence.

2. Home care prevents or postpones institutionalization. Few want to be placed in a nursing home unless it is the only choice.

3. Much scientific evidence indicates that patients heal more quickly at home.

4. Home care is safer. Some 20 percent of people who enter hospitals develop complications, such as infections.

5. Home care reduces stress.

6. Home care nurses and aides consider what they do a calling rather than a job.

7. In many of the rural or dense urban areas, home care is the only available form of health care.

8. Home care improves quality of life.

9. Home care is less expensive than other forms of care, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

10. The Internet will increasingly make it possible to diagnose, monitor, and treat illness at a distance, allowing patients to stay home and health professionals to save time.

Clearly there is evidence that taking care of someone at home is the best form of living and knowing there is a helping hand to walk you through that change is even better.

It’s important to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with home care.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

The Shakopee Valley News recently published a nice article on our business. I thought I would share what they wrote about us…

“Can we help people with health concerns aspire to a better life?” When Tom Wiest and his family asked this question, the result was the founding of Aspirience Home Care. This Shakopee-based business provides services to people who need help with activities of daily living and health-related functions through Personal Care Assistants.

The realization of the need for a company like Aspirience started many years ago when Tom’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Tom’s father did a great job taking care of her in the early stages. However, this destructive disease eventually took its toll on him and the rest of the family. The inevitable happened and his mother was put in a nursing home.

His mother went from having his dad take care of her at home, in a setting in which she was most comfortable, right into a full-time nursing home. That’s when Tom and the family started looking at the options and determined to create a home-care company that was guided by very specific principles.  Tom, founder and CEO of Aspirience Home Care says, “Our mission is to empower all caregivers to help home-care clients dream more, do more and be more. Our vision is to turn aspirations into experiences. Hence, our company name Aspirience. We understand that we are in the ‘people’ business, like a good neighbor taking care of a friend.”

Aspirience Home Care provides services to people of all ages who need help with activities of daily living and health-related functions through Personal Care Assistants (PCAs). They offer hourly, daily or weekly service, 365 days per year to a wide variety of patients from children to seniors, including the convalescing, disabled persons and anyone else who needs help with daily living activities. Aspirience Home Care will help anyone who needs help with routine activities of daily living so that they can live at home.

Tom comments, “Our home care aims to enable people to remain at home in surroundings that are comfortable to them, rather than use institutional-based care facilities. Caregivers visit clients in their own home to help with many different daily tasks such as getting up, going to bed, dressing, toileting, personal hygiene, some household tasks, shopping, cooking, supervision of medication and more.” “We help out with the daily routine of things you and I take for granted every day.”

Aspirience Home Care services those whose needs are described as Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). ADL refers to basic activities that reflect the patient’s capacity for self-care. IADL refers to more advanced daily activities that enables the client to live independently in the community. Aspirience Home Care is licensed and serves the entire state of Minnesota as well.

Aspirience’s Chief Nursing Officer constructs a personalized care plan designed to fit the needs of the individual. These Care-Giving Services are then provided by Personal Care Assistants who are carefully recruited and trained. Aspirience guarantees its services, and those of its PCAs, who are all bonded, insured and tested. The Chief Nursing Officer monitors each PCA’s activities to ensure compliance with client care plans.

If you, or a loved one aspires to a better, more fulfilling life and could benefit from in home health care, give Aspirience a call today.

The printed article can be found by clicking here.

It’s important to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with home care.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

I know there is a ‘National Month’ for just about everything but, November is touted as National Home Care Month by The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). It is a time for all of us to commemorate the power of caring, both at home and in our local communities, by celebrating this event with gracious praise of those who care for others.

It is appropriate that we take a few minutes of our day to celebrate the nurses, therapists, aides, care givers and other providers who have chosen to use their lives to help give strength to the infirm, disabled and elderly people in our communities.

From the beginning of Aspirience, I have said often there is no work more nobler, fulfilling and rewarding that and no group in our society deserves more of our respect and admiration than those who care for others.

Back in 1999, the U.S. Supreme Courts’ Olmstead decision declared a Constitutional right for all Americans to be cared for in the least restrictive environment, their homes. The National Governors Association declared in 2004 that long term care is the greatest problem facing America and that home care is the best solution to the problem. In addition to these moves, the growth in the use of home care is being driven primarily by demographics, the graying of America, the advancement of technology, its cost effectiveness as compared with other forms of care and personal choice. Meaning that home care is all around us, everyday, everywhere.

Another fact is that home care is not just for the elderly but has viable importance to the young and middle-aged, especially chronically ill and disabled children.

Granted, 78 million Baby Boomers will soon hit retirement age, and a large percentage of them will begin to need help to remain independent in their own homes but, at this point, there is no Federal program that helps much with these needs, which also affects as many as 8 million more persons with disabilities who are younger than age 65. Home care needs are vast.

We believe that quality home care and hospice, a humane and cost effective alternative to institutionalization, is the right of all people. Home care provides important skilled nursing, therapy, supportive services and self care training and work in concert with the care provided by family members and friends. Home care encourages maximum independence of thought and functioning as well as the preservation of human dignity.

Home care is the preferred form of health care for millions of Americans as they go through their lives. Even when the end is near, most people appreciate the love and care which is so graciously given by the angels of hospice. Let us take time to celebrate the good that these special people do in the world.

It’s important to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with your home care options by keeping your loved ones where they are most comfortable and safe, at home.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Not to sound like a home improvement article but, with winter just around the corner there are some tasks around the house that should be done to prepare for the bitter chill and harsh elements we typically face here in Minnesota. Especially for the our loved ones that are in their own homes and we want them to feel safe and protected.

Take just a few minutes with some basic tools to do it yourself. You’ll save money and have great satisfaction in knowing you did it yourself. So grab your toolbox, get a grip on your patience and dig in. Here are five winter tasks you might not even know you can successfully tackle:

1. Shut off outdoor water spigots: Your faucets outside can freeze and break in extreme cold if the valve inside your house isn’t turned off. This task is as easy as finding the valve and turning it to the right until it’s tight. If you don’t know where the valve is, note how many feet the faucet is from the corner of the outside wall. Then go inside (usually to the basement wall) and measure from the same corner. The valve should be high on the inside wall near the foundation. After you shut it off, go outside and turn on the spigot to drain any remaining water. Don’t forget to drain hoses and store them inside so excess water does not freeze and cause the hose to crack.

2. Change your furnace filter: It’s important to change your filter once a month in the winter when the furnace is in high gear. Doing so will help it run more efficiently, which will save you money and keep cleaner air distributing throughout the house. If you don’t know which type of filter your furnace uses, check the owner’s manual. You can also remove the filter (with the furnace turned off) and take it to the hardware store to match it up. Most filter sizes go by standard inches (example: 16 x 22) and are about 1 inch thick. Once you find the filter slot in your furnace, simply pull it out. Some furnaces have a clip that holds the filter in place. Most filters, which are inexpensive, are disposable, so toss the old one then slide the new one in its place and secure the clip.

3. Winterize your lawn mower: To make sure your mower starts in the spring, drain the remaining gas from the tank by running the mower until it stops. If you’re unable to drain the gas or have a gas/oil mix, buy additives to treat your gas so it doesn’t go bad during the winter months.

4. Get your fireplace ready: Now is a great time to give your fireplace a once over and possibly even hire a chimney sweep to reduce the risk of a chimney fire. Take a good look at your damper and make sure it opens and closes properly. Also take a look at the mortar between the bricks (tuck points) inside the fireplace. If it’s crumbling or loose, arrange to have a mason make repairs. If you haven’t had your chimney cleaned in a few years, make that call.

5. Install storm windows and doors: It’s important to remove your screens for the winter to allow optimum sunlight for added warmth. Replace them with storm windows and doors. Most attach easily with a screwdriver to tighten four or five screws around the edges. But they’re all different and some involve vinyl or rubber edging that, when pushed into place, seals the storm door in place. Storm windows are key to helping conserve energy, so don’t ignore this task.

6. Lastly, make sure you have good snow shovels: It never fails, when the first snow falls and you go to shovel out you don’t have a shovel that can do the job. Worse yet, by the time you go to buy one most stores are sold out.

Again, not to sound like a home improvement article but, I bring this topic up since there always seems to be some tragic home care story that hits the news during the dead of winter that could have been prevented if some precautions around the home were cared for.

It’s important to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with your home care options by keeping your loved ones where they are most comfortable and safe at home.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

I’m sure this is not news to anyone but, The Carlyle Group, a private-equity investment firm with investments in business sectors ranging from aerospace to telecommunications, is about to buy its way into Ohio’s nursing home market.

A cash offer to buy HCR Manor Care, the owner of some 500 nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, rehabilitation centers and hospice and home-care agencies in 30 states, including Ohio, received Manor Care shareholders’ approval this week.

The deal is getting resistance, especially from the Service Employees International Union, which has launched a nationwide campaign to get Carlyle to guarantee that if the homes change hands, the new owners will improve care and staff levels.

What a great idea!

A recent investigation by the New York Times lends an extra degree of credibility to the SEIU’s concerns. The newspaper found that private equity firms, which have bought into the nursing home industry in a big way since 2000, show a disturbing tendency to manage their properties with a great deal more concern about the bottom line than about proper staffing and patient care.

The Times also found that once they’ve gained control of a nursing home chain, private-equity firms use intricate management structures to insulate themselves from liability when things go wrong. In fact, it’s often hard to tell whose nursing homes they are.

Now comes Carlyle, with its plans for Manor Care and its 44 homes in Ohio, a state where the nursing home industry already has one of the most powerful influences.

State nursing home regulators should turn a stern gaze on the quality of care given at homes bought by private equity firms. Decreases in the level of staff, something Manor Care’s current ownership says will not happen, must be treated as cause for immediate concern.

Taking care of aging people who can no longer live independently is a big business, and it’s only going to get bigger as the baby boom generation goes deeper into its twilight years. But those who profit must be held accountable for the level of care they provide.

There’s no reason why private equity firms can’t do the job right. But like other nursing home owners, they’re going to have to be watched closely and constantly by regulators and residents’ families, to keep them honest.

It’s important to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with your home care options by keeping your loved ones where they are most comfortable and safe at home.