Terry Wilcox's grandmother lived in an isolated house at the top of a hill overlooking the magical mountains and valleys of the Ozarks until, as she tells it, "the day we literally had to drag her off of it." Wilcox, like many others in her generation, has been in the tricky position of having to take care of aging parents and in-laws in addition to her young twins. Home health care services have helped keep Wilcox's family healthy and safe — and reduce her stress — but they aren't equally accessible to everybody. And that uneven ground is now being further threatened by Medicare's proposal for deep cuts and clawbacks to payments made during the pandemic for home health care.
In an ongoing effort to provide information and transparency to the community, the Pasadena Elderly and Dependent Adult Liaisons (PEDAL) website now includes a Facility Information and Complaint Resources portal. This portal provides direct access to California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) information for each Pasadena skilled nursing and long-term care facility, along with complaint resources. The PEDAL website also includes several new critical information bulletins intended to provide operational guidance to staff at skilled nursing facilities. The critical information bulletins are produced from time to time on an ad hoc basis, and are intended to comprise an expanding collection of resource information for industry professionals and other interested persons.
This month, I want to continue with the discussion on family caregivers and the resources available to assist families in the mission of caring for a loved one. Last month, I touched on two resources: Home health care and home care. As always, I strive to collaborate with experts that can shed the most valuable light on the topic and provide significant information to those who need it most. To gather essential information regarding home care, I spoke with Weama Kassem, the CEO of Synergy Home Care in Oklahoma, and Vicki Crafton, the director of nursing, about the differences between home health care and home care.
If you’ve been following recent news, you’ve probably seen the fuss being made about the “bidding war” between some of America’s biggest corporate players, including UnitedHealth, CVS and e-commerce behemoth Amazon. But those with an ear to the ground know that this is only the latest development in an escalating land-grab for one of America’s fastest-growing industries: home medical technology. The subject of the most recent episode? The $8 billion sale of Signify Health (subscription required), a home healthtech and analytics company, to CVS Health.
Serena Maria warmly remembers the first older person she took care of. “Her name was Liberty Bell, and she was born on [the] Fourth of July and she was the sweetest thing,” Maria said. For about a year, Maria would go to the nonegenarian’s home in Southern California three to seven days a week to help her get dressed, take a shower and eat her meals. Maria loved the connection she built with Liberty Bell and the feeling of helping someone. But finding enough people like Maria to care for this country’s aging population in their homes and nursing facilities is a major challenge.
We've heard about the "Silver Tsunami," and it has arrived, with some 10,000 Americans turning 65 each day since 2010. We know that our aging population has complex needs, requiring more post-acute and in-home care as well as other community-based support. At the same time, there simply are not enough nurses and other healthcare providers to care for the people who will need support and resources in the next five to 10 years.