Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

The board that runs the Minneapolis Veterans Home agreed last Thursday to spend an extra $671,000 over the next year as it seeks to resolve rule violations and complaints of inadequate health care.

Can you believe that, $671,000!

This spending includes $546,000 for another year of consulting work, on top of the work from last year, and up to $125,000 that will go to the Minnesota Department of Health for an outside monitor who the department will select to keep close tabs on the troubled home.

In return, the 402-bed facility can continue to operate.

In July, I wrote about the Veterans Home coming under fire and almost losing its license. Over the past two years, the state has cited the home for 67 rule violations and fined it $42,300 when nine of them weren’t corrected on time. The federal Department of Veterans Affairs found 33 violations last year.

Now they plan to spend $546,000 to a consulting company to tell them and us what we already know and $125,000 to someone to oversee that?

Jeff Johnson, Chairman of the Minnesota Veterans Homes Board was recently quoted as saying “We don’t really have a choice. We have to do this, spend the money.” Does everyone realize that almost 2% of the total $36 million budget for the Minneapolis home is being spent on consultants above?

“But we are not sacrificing care to pay for these services,” he said. “We’re improving care, and making sure the improvements will stick this time.”

What if it doesn’t stick? That question didn’t get anwered.

Governor Tim Pawlenty ordered the board in 2005 to hire a consultant to assess care at the five veterans homes. The consultant, Health Dimensions Group of Minneapolis, found care and leadership problems in Minneapolis but, no major problems at homes in Luverne, Silver Bay, Fergus Falls and Hastings.

Last February, after inspectors found that three veterans at the Minneapolis home died after neglect or medical errors, Pawlenty ordered the Health Department to begin monitoring its day-to-day operations until a consultant could take over. Health Dimensions became that consultant.

The governor also set up a commission to investigate how to resolve decades of regulatory problems at the Minneapolis home and whether the system is governed properly. That commission expects to complete its work next month.

Under the board’s agreement with the Health Department on Thursday, the home will be given a two-year conditional license, which can be revoked if serious problems re-emerge.

It’s good to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you when others may not be able to.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

I was talking with someone associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association the other day and she was telling me about little Levi and how he is doing so well with his neuromuscular disease. I just had to share her story and what half-day home care has done for this little patient and his family.

Levi wasn’t suppose to walk, or eat without his feeding tube or live past his first birthday. All of which have happened, and with grace.

Levi turned 4 years old this past Saturday and is outliving and outpacing most expectations from doctors, nurses and even his own family.

He started out life in the Neuro-Intensive Care unit after he was born in Minot, ND. They were not aware that he was going to be born this way.

No one is supposed to be born this way.

No one really knew why he was not normal either. Doctors and specialists conducted tests for a year and a half. Something wasn’t right with him and all the family knew was that their little boy was fighting against an invisible illness.

They brought him home and had half-day, personal care assistant, home care, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s been like that for the past 4 years now.

After being sent to Rochester, Minnesota little Levi was diagnosed with a mitochrondial defect. But under that heading comes 50 other diseases that doctors were not able to pin-point.

Then after a second muscle biopsy another diagnosis of congenetal myopathy. Another condition with 50 or so diseases underneath its umbrella. It was not looking good as both diseases have no cure.

So that’s where he is. We have congenetal myopathy and a mitochrondial defect and they are both unclassified and the family has no idea which ones they are. But little Levi just keeps on improving and improving.

Now at age four with so much he wasn’t supposed to do, he’s doing so much. He has learned sign language to communicate, wheels himself around the house in his custom sized wheelchair and he plays baseball.

Levi may only be about the size of a one year old, he may only have the cognitive abilities of a two year old but he is not about to slow down.

His progress has been aided by the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a solid PCA home care provider, helping the family with resources and special needs.

It’s good to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with home care like little Levi.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

It still amazes me how many personal care assistant needs there are everywhere.

I was meeting someone at the Burnsville Center the other day and had some time on my hands.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down to the food court to study some things.

As I was walking with my java in one hand and some paperwork in the other, here’s what I saw;

There was an older elderly woman being escorted by her walker.  You know the kind I mean, it has wheels on the two legs in front and usually two half cut tennis balls on the other two legs to help the walker glide better on surfaces. 

With a couple small packages at her side, she looked a bit lost as she was navigating her way around.  She stopped and took a pill box of medication out of her hand bag but, looked perplexed as to what to do next.  Should she take the pills now?   Is it the right time?  Are these the right pills even?

As I came down to the food court and found a place to sit and study, I saw a mother and daughter sitting together.  They were having lunch.  It appears they were having a very nice polite discussion of the recent rainy weather we’ve had. 

As I was sitting at a table nearby, the discussion turned to talks of caring for someone at home versus going into an institution like an assisted living center.  I don’t know if this was a relative, her husband, a neighbor or whom.  They were debating the benefits and the costs of the different home care avenues.  Which is the right choice?  How will I know I made the right choice?

Lastly, I wrapped up my study time and meeting and was walking out to the parking lot when I saw a young man in a motorized quadriplegic wheelchair hung up on one of the curbs.  He was moving his mouth piece back and forth, which controls the wheelchairs motion. 

Imagine being high centered in your car on a snow drift in a good Minnesota snowstorm, it’s the same thing.  He was frantically trying to free his vehicle but, to no avail.  I walked up and offered a hand of lifting the front end of his wheelchair off the curb so he could steer clear.  We smiled and nodded in thanks then we parted ways. 

The fact that is so startling is, if we just take a minute out of our day and look around, I mean really look around, it would amaze us how many personal care assistant needs there are everywhere, everyday.

It’s good to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with all of them.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Often, we speak at meetings for numerous non-profit groups, social events, support group gatherings, etc. One of the most popular topics we are asked about is the aging population growth and what could be expected by it. One introductory and defining sentence to this topic is the fact, that by 2030, the number of Minnesotans 65 and older will double, making up one-quarter of the state’s population.

Because of this aging surge, seniors are going to want to be able to live independently and stay in their own homes as long as possible. To make sure this happens families often need help. This is especially true for adult children who are called on to take care of their elderly parents.

Half of the people who are caring for seniors in the state are their adult children. They take turns grocery shopping, cleaning and bringing in meals, keeping a journal in their parents’ home to help keep track of what’s been done. I was talking with one member of a large family and she said, “I can’t imagine how small families do it.” “It’s practically impossible for us at times.”

Even Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, announced that she will propose legislation this fall that she believes will make life easier for family caregivers and seniors. One bill is aimed at providing tax relief and better information to family members who care for elderly relatives. The second would help protect people who buy long-term care insurance policies.

Now, families can claim a dependent-care credit on their taxes only if their elderly relative lives in their home. Klobuchar would expand the law to allow families to claim a $1,200 credit for the expense of caring for an elderly relative no matter where they live.

The bill also would set up a national care giving resource center offering information about the best ways to help older relatives and how to get it.

As noted above, by 2030, the number of Minnesotans 65 and older will double, making up one-quarter of the population. Klobuchar said that she also wants to boost the resources of the National Family Caregiver Support Program, which was established in 2001. With more funding, that program could make life easier for both seniors and their families. It might offer fast access to information about programs that help older people remain in their homes as they grow frail - programs such as respite care and home modification help to keep homes handicapped accessible.

Care giving can be an overwhelming responsibility for many families and it can be an exhausting, tiring, endless job, and it doesn’t get any easier over time. As a result of these responsibilities, many caregivers develop physical problems and mental health problems. Often, becoming the recipient of the services they once provided to others.

Every single caregiver I have spoken to or know has told me the same thing, they need one simple thing, and that’s time.

It’s good to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with home care and the time you need.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

I have been asked more than once about how our company name and logo came about. It wasn’t easy coming up with the answer. It kind of ‘hit us’ as to what it stood for.

When we branded our company we asked the opinions of our clients and kept hearing a common theme in different ways that we help them ‘turn their aspirations into better experiences’. We simply combined the two words aspire and experience to get Aspirience.

Our logo had a similar thought process put into it in the form of a seed. The seed of life. Yes, it is a dandelion seed. But, to the eye, it is the most visible form of a seed and one that drops itself from the plant to be whisked away by the wind only to be deposited back down to earth to grow again. And this process happens over and over and over, being called the seed of life.

You know, as I researched this newsletter further and I came to find out there are a lot of names that came to be…well…just because.

Take for example, Formula 409, all-purpose cleaner. The two scientists who invented it didn’t get the formula right until the 409^th attempt.

What about Grey Poupon Dijon mustard? Sounds classy, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s named for the inventor, Mr. Grey and business partner, Mr. Poupon, who put up the money to open a mustard factory in (where else?) Dijon, France.

Best Buy. It actually started business in 1966 as The Sound of Music. After the business grew, Dick Schulze changed the name to ‘Best Buy’ to reflect their pricing strategy.

Magnavox. In 1915 the Commercial Wireless and Development Co. created a speaker that offered the clearest sound of any on the market. They called it the Magna Vox, which means ‘great voice’ in Latin.

Brillo pads. It’s from the Latin word beryllus, which means to ‘shine’.

Lysol. It’s short for lye solvent.

I can go on and on but, you get the idea. Our name calls together two of the greatest reflections on the services we offer and it is also our Vision Statement: Turning aspirations into experiences. This also ties in with our Mission Statement of ‘Empowering all caregivers to help home care clients dream more, doing more and being more.

So the next time you’re thinking of home care needs, think about the company’s name and logo and what it might stand for. You might be surprised.

It’s good to know, Aspirience Home Care can help you with home care needs for right reasons.