March 2005 Ezine Linking Seniors, Family Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals

There's Some Place Like Home, by Rita Phillips
Welcome! Bernie Corrigan, Sonya Brink and Joseph
New Certified Senior Approved Services
Manners 101 - Working within the Elder Care Industry, by Barbara Mascio
Recipe Contest
Calendar of Events
Resources for Your Business
Stop Guessing, Select a Senior Approved Service
An Easter Message

There's Some Place Like Home

Bob Phillips, owner of S.A.R.A.H. Adult Day Services in Strongsville knows from personal experience that his facility provides such an alternative for many families facing these difficult choices.

"My mother lived alone and was quite self-sufficient for 23 years. Then she broke her leg and everything changed," explains Bob. "It was obvious she needed care during the day that our family couldn't provide, but we weren't comfortable with our options. We knew Mom didn't need to be in a nursing home and home health care didn't provide her social interaction with anyone but the home care aide."

Shortly afterwards, Bob sought the advice of Dr. Merle Griff, an experienced Gerontologist in the Canton area. In 1985, Dr. Griff founded S.A.R.A.H. Adult Day Services in Canton. The more Bob spoke to her, the more interested he became in adult day care, not only as a customer but as a provider.

In October of 2001, after considerable research and planning, Bob and his wife, Rita, opened the Strongsville S.A.R.A.H. Center. See S.A.R.A.H. Adult Day Services for more information.

Rita Phillips designed the center's interior to be reminiscent of 'Grandma's House.' Victorian style furniture complete with lace doilies fills the living room, dining room and parlor. "Memories are important to the elderly. We want our clients to feel at home when they're here," says Rita.

More important to the center's 'homey' atmosphere is the staff. S.A.R.A.H. employs six full time staffers, including an R.N., each of whom has a home health care background and experience working with seniors. "No one wants to think about leaving their loved one with strangers all day, but once our families meet our staff, they no longer seem like strangers," offers Bob.

Seniors that attend the center enjoy the company of other seniors. Nutritious meals, snacks and the scheduled activities further promote good physical, mental and emotional health.

Continue reading at There's Some Place Like Home

The Strongsville S.A.R.A.H. Center has recently received Certification as a Senior Approved Service. See Quality of Service Report

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Bernie Corrigan, Sonya Brink and Joseph

Please welcome new members to the QCO staff. You may email each directly from our Staff Page Bernie joins us from the Chicago IL region and Sonya is our latested addition to the Ohio staff, representing the Toledo and surrounding areas. Both members bring an interesting and varied background which you can read about on our staff page.

Telecommuting Positions are available! We are in special need of representatives in Southern Ohio, Eastern Ohio, all of Florida, Pennsylvannia, New York, Texas and Northern California. We're receiving a tremendous amount of inquiries from these states and we simply don't have enough elder care businesses surveyed to recommend to our clients. If you love the elderly and want to help us advocate for the right of all seniors to receive excellent care - please see Opportunity

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New Certified Senior Approved Services

We are thrilled to announce the newest Certified Senior Approved Services!

My Home Care, Inc. a family owned and operated home care service located in Springfield IL. Kim Matrisch, RN and her mother Barbara have over twenty five years experience working with seniors. They provide excellent services and are very hands-on.

Attorney Mary Ann Thomas is now part of our network. Her office is located in North Royalton and she serves Cuyahoga, Medina and Summit Counties. Attorney Thomas will do home, hospital, and nursing home visits, for those clients who are unable to come to her office. Her practice encompasses the areas of Wills & Trusts, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Guardianship, Real Estate, Contracts, and Deeds. She also serves as a Volunteer Recruiter with Adult Guardianship Services

If you missed past issues of the ezine, you may have overlooked an announcement. Our network continues to grow every day. See Approved Services Our goal of becoming the ultimate One-Call Solution for seniors is becoming a reality. In the process of survey now, Faithful Companions Home Care in Willoughby Hills Ohio and Hamilton Home Care in Villa Park IL.

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Recipe Contest

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Manners 101 - Working within the Elder Care Industry

Practicing Good Manners Equals Higher Employee Retention AND Higher Client Retention

Good old-fashion manners are essential when working in the elder care industry.

The average age group of a senior receiving direct services or care is from 78 to 86. Typically, this is a widowed woman. In her generation, manners reflected respect and honor, for oneself and for others. There were definite 'do's and don'ts'

Practicing good manners will go a long way toward creating an overall atmosphere of mutual trust and respect in your work place. This in turns creates a more pleasant working environment for every employee. An employee that feels respected translates in to higher employee retention. A senior client that feels respected translates in to higher client retention.

My pet peeve is the acceptance of a lower standard of treatment based on low income, race, and lower education. Do you treat a wealthy senior with more respect than a low-income senior? Do you treat your cleaning staff with less respect than your administrator? Do you treat those that are different from your skin color or ethnic background with less concern than you do those that are just like you?

Take a few moments during the day, observe your staff interacting with one another, and then observe the interaction your staff displays when working with your elderly clients or how they greet visitors to your place of business. You may find that the lack of good old-fashion manners is the root cause for poor employee relations and for unhappy seniors.

Working within the elder care industry is not for everyone. You genuinely must love older adults. Your sincerity and concern for our elderly will come across and good manners will not only make the senior feel wanted and respected, but it will make your day far more rewarding.

The Essentials of Good Manner Skills -

1. Lead by example: If you are attempting to bring good manners in to your workplace - you must first do what you ask of your employees.

Continue reading at Manners 101

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Calendar of Events

If you are in the financial planning or insurance business, you won't want to miss the 5th Annual Selling to Seniors Conference! It occurs in October, but we're reminding you to reserve your spot now.

Are you searching for topic-related issues surrounding seniors and family caregivers? Listen to Coping with Caregiving an Internet based radio program hosted by Jacqueline Marcell, author of Elder Rage See our calendar for details on an upcoming show scheduled for March the 12th when yours truly will be a guest on the show.

Looking for a workshop to attend or a workshop to sponsor for your employees, seniors or staff? See Workshops and Self-Help Books

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Marketing Tools for the Elder Care Business

• Build a Web Site Compare the features of Site Build It to other major hosting services. Both of our sites use this service and we receive both compliments and a lot of visitors to our site. If you're going to use a web site to further promote your local business then you may as well use a service that will bring you traffic! Both Yahoo and Google now offer 'local search' and this feature is quickly replacing the yellow pages! 68% of all our inquiries result from the adult child finding us on the Internet.

• How to Start a Home Care Business a comprehensive manual on how to start your own home care business. Available as an E-manual, Hard Copy or CD. Get started in this rapidly expanding service industry today!

• Coping with Caregiving a monthly Internet-only radio program heard worldwide. Learn how you might be a featured guest, interviewed by Author of Elder Rage, Jacqueline Marcell. The program has been expanded to include all aspects of health, aging, family relationships, baby boomer concerns, nutrition, childcare, eldercare, long-term care insurance/planning and more. Six guests are interviewed back-to-back during two hours with commercials in-between.

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Stop Guessing, Select a Senior Approved Service!

The Certification is proof that the business you reach out to has a history of excellent quality service. Before you contract with a business, ask if they are Certified as a Senior Approved Service. If they are not, please pass our contact information to them. Our toll free number is 877-620-6448. We will help the business begin the survey process leading to certification.

Why trust any other business? All of our businesses within the network of Senior Approved Services have contracted with Quality Care Options to survey their clients. Only those businesses with a 90% or higher 'senior satisfaction rating' are awarded the Certification. The Certification removes the guesswork as you attempt to sift through the multiple choices available these days.

From our family to yours ~

Regardless of your personal belief systems, consider the aspects involved with this time of year. I was raised on a farm and farming folks welcome spring time. It's when we plan the garden, begin to work the soil, and decide what seeds we want to plant.

Consider what seeds you want to plant right now in your personal and professional life. Invision those seeds sprouting. What will you do this year to nourish your seedlings? What exactly do you expect to reap this year from your efforts?

You can not harvest tomatoes from an apple tree. So if you want tomatoes, you gotta plant tomatoes. If you don't want apples, don't sow apple seeds!

Reflect on the promise of rebirth and the possibility of transformation.