AUGUST NEWSLETTER Check out what we've been up to this month (August 2018) |
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Dog Days of Summer by Stacey Pinz August is often referred to as the "Dog Days of Summer," but what exactly does that mean? Is it because the days are so hot that dogs lie around lazily? Is it because we all pant like dogs as a result of the intense summer heat? I had my doubts about these explanations, so I set out on a quest to understand this expression and its origin as we are preparing ourselves to exit the dog days of summer and eagerly enter the fall season. According to Wondoropolis (2014-2018), the phrase has less to do with canines and more to do with stars. Who knew? Read more about the origin of this expression by clicking on the link: Dog Days of Summer Explained. |
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Compassionate Home Care's Open House TO DO! RSVP to the Second Annual Compassionate Home Care Open House. This is a way for the agency to show our appreciation for all you do for your clients and give you the chance to be treated as kindly as you treat your clients. There will be food, prizes, drawings, pampering, and more. Bring your family, and come enjoy an evening of learning more about the vision and direction of Compassionate Home Care! Please complete the the RSVP LINK | | |
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Help for ILS Trainers Help Amy Cornelius, ILS Director, help you. In order to get more assistance and support for you and your ILS clients, Amy would love for you to reach out to her to get ideas and resources. She has several tools available for ILS Trainers that she would love to share. Reach out to her with questions anytime, and maybe she will have some resources to help make your ILS life easier. | | |
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Value of a Companion By Stacey Pinz In the roles that we have as caregivers and ILS Trainers, it is important to remember that we are also companions for our clients. Our clients look forward to visiting and spending time with their caregivers as much as they look forward to accomplishing their other tasks. Therefore, it is important for you to take some time to spend visiting with your clients and perhaps doing an enjoyable activity with them. Find out what their interests and hobbies are and try to find some activities that you can do together which align with those interests and hobbies. One of our caregivers spent time walking with her client this summer, and as a result, her client decided to drop her cares with another agency and pick up more hours with Compassionate Home Care. The switch was directly tied to the companionship the client has with her caregiver. Sure, the caregiver accomplished a number of important tasks with the client, but she also made time to truly listen to the client and get to know about the client's interests. |
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The Home Healthcare Industry has Many Changes & Challenges Ahead Source: The Fox Group, LLC No doubt about it: The home healthcare industry is booming right along with the baby boomers. The economic downturn, healthcare reform legislation, the changing preferences of seniors in America (or perhaps, the greater availability of long-term care services in settings other than nursing homes), all have contributed to tremendous growth in this sector. (You can read about Home Care: Then & Now at SeniorsForLiving.com.) Throw in the huge numbers of boomers and seniors in need of services over the next few decades, and I’d say the future of home healthcare looks bright. | | |
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Tips for Retaining Your A+ Caregivers Source: Homecare Pulse (2018) Believe it or not, the Compassionate Home Care team is constantly researching ways to help our employees know how valuable they are to the team. We cannot be a team without our excellent care team. In our efforts to find ways to continually recognize and solute our caregivers, we came across this article about tips to keep our careteam, you, happy. Take a gander and see if you agree with the findings. Although recruiting A+ caregivers can be difficult, the hardest part has become retaining them. There are no guarantees when hiring a new employee, as some plan to keep the job and others continue looking for a “better” one. So, what can you do to help your caregivers be happy with their job and lower your caregiver turnover? Here are three suggestions that could help: | | |
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AUGUST Highlights (Keep them Coming) Compassionate Home Care, we have had some important things going on in AUGUST! - McKenna, Kelsey, and Daniel H. have all successfully completed their summer internships with Compassionate Home Care, and all three have decided to try to fit in some of their clients into their busy school schedules. We hope the three of you know how much we have appreciated all you have done for your clients this summer, and we wish you the best as you go back to school!
- McKenna proactively updated all of her clients' care plans before Stacey even asked her to do it. Thank you, McKenna for your proactive approach to making sure your clients are served when you are back at school. We appreciate that so much!
- Katie has gotten some great reviews from her clients! The latest text said, "She's wonderful, thank you for sending her." She has worked on dusting windowsills and moving furniture to clean underneath and behind. Katie has also been able to pick up an ILS client!
- Jennifer B. has jumped in completing some intakes and beginning services with some new clients who have already asked her to move in. We look forward to continuing to have Jennifer serve the ICLS clients in the western counties.
- Kim picked up a new client, and immediately stepped in to help the client feel more at ease about having services. The client was nervous, but after meeting Kim, she is comfortable and looking forward to Kim's next visit. Kim's client could not say enough great things about how much she got done.
- Lisa Bandemer has been working hard to help some complicated and interesting clients. She has been intricate in helping her clients to remain more independent. Thank you for all you do for your clients, Lisa.
- Miranda has taken on some new clients over the past month, and she has worked hard to build rapport with them and make connections with them. She has continuously demonstrated her flexibility and her compassion no matter who she is working with
- Cindy has been willing to pick up and fill in wherever she is needed. She truly embodies the team mentality, and the client-first modo. She sees a need and she steps in to fill that need. We truly appreciate Cindy's has a strong ability to make connections with people and help them feel important.
- Mary has had to be flexible a lot this month as her clients have had a lot of little things come up with their schedules which have caused cancellations and schedule shifts. We appreciate her communication with the office letting us know when she needs to change and/or if a client needs to change.
- Dawn has agreed to work with new clients throughout her time with Compassionate Home Care, and she has worked to help them with whatever tasks they need. She has demonstrated a flexible and client-first mentality
- Alisha is definitely a go-getter. Her clients continue to appreciate how much she is willing and able to dig into some of the bigger cleaning projects like stove tops and inside of cupboards. Alisha is detailed and passionate about what she does. She definitely strives to help her clients to the best of her ability.
- Darian continues to receive outstanding feedback from all of her clients. No matter who we call, we always hear about how much Darian has helped them and how much they love having her help and companionship.
- Kathy continues to work with her client to gain strides in her independence. She's been flexible and willing to go the extra mile for her client, and she has been learning a lot about resources for her client.
- Cindy R. has worked hard for her client to help her get settled into her new apartment. She has taken the client to appointments, and she has worked hard to build a relationship with her client. It has been great having you on the team, so far, Cindy!
- Amy H. has been cheerful and positive whenever we call to check in with her. She has talked about how much she is loving this type of work, and she is enjoying her clients. We feel fortunate to have Amy on the team, and we look forward to hearing more about how she is impacting her clients and their lives.
- Jackie B. had planned to take some extra time off, but when she learned that her client may not have services, she cut her time short so she could make sure her client would be cared for. This is truly client-centered. Thank you, Jackie for your dedication to your clients and for helping to demonstrate the mission of Compassionate Home Care!
- Jackie M. has worked hard to advocate for her clients. She has checked in on them during her off time, and she has helped to make sure one of her clients has made a smooth transition from transitional care to home. She has selflessly worked long hours and put in extra time to make sure her clients are cared for.
- Tami S. was able to help one of her clients to move some heavy pieces of furniture around that the client had wanted moved for a long time. She was resourceful and located some help to get the job done. Additionally, Tami has worked hard to clean and cook for her clients and provide all of the needed services and cares for her clients.
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Moving furniture and cleaning underneath and behind. Wow! What a difference! |
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Look at all of that hard work! |
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Welcome Our New Employees in August Read more about our newest team members by clicking on the links below! |
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AUGUST Employees of the Month |
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Homemaking/Companion Care Staff: Caitlyn Naffziger Caitlyn joined the Compassionate Home Care team as an experienced homemaker as she has worked in her own home-cleaning business. She has blown her clients away with her ability to clean in places they did not know needed cleaning. She has been detailed in her work, and she has gone above and beyond to clean beyond the surface cleaning and dig into some bigger organizing projects. Caitlyn's clients have said things like "I have never had someone clean like she does," "She cleaned in places that I did not even know needed cleaning," and "Caitlyn has made my home shine like new." Caitlyn is good at what she does, and we are so thankful that we have her to provide excellent services for the Compassionate Home Care clients. Caitlyn, your clients thank you and so does Compassionate Home Care. | | |
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| | ILS Trainer: Mary Schmidt Mary always has a cheerful and positive outlook no matter what situation she is faced with. We always appreciate and know that whenever we talk with Mary, she finds the positive side of things. Mary has had several ILS clients who have been challenging and have presented her with challenging situations, but when Mary calls, she keeps her upbeat personality and is hopeful that the next visit will be better. We have appreciated her ability to make strong connections with clients and work to listen to their needs with an open mind and an attitude of compassion. Additionally, Mary creatively finds ways to put her clients at ease when she first meets them; for example, recently she met a new client who was reluctant to have services. She immediately won the client's heart through baking a batch of cookies. The client felt more comfortable about receiving the services and looked forward to Mary's visit the next week. | | |
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| | ICLS/Direct Caregiver: Tami Schmidt Tami has worked hard in any role in which she has been challenged. Tami has faced hoarding situations, and she has worked with clean-freaks, too. In both situations, she works to listen to the client and find out more about what will make the client happy. Most recently, Tami was able to find resources to help a client who wanted/needed some heavy pieces of furniture moved. Tami found the movers and helped this client to finally get this done. The client had waited patiently for a long time to get this done, and Tami was finally able to help her out. Additionally, Tami has been able to provide various types of cares for her clients whether it is helping them with activities of daily living (ADLs) or helping them to have a nutritional meal to eat. Tami steps in for her clients where she is needed. | | |
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<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">August Birthdays<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22"> - Christine Daly – August 28
- Tammie Black – August 30
<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">September Birthdays<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22"> - Denise Derheim – September 1
- Becky Hagstrom – September 9
- Jennifer Bramhall – September 11
- Erin Oberfeld – September 20
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<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_0331e1a27e9a4586abefeb331e65940a.png_256" width="22">August Anniversaries<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_0331e1a27e9a4586abefeb331e65940a.png_256" width="22"> - McKinzie Kilbury – 1 year
<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_0331e1a27e9a4586abefeb331e65940a.png_256" width="22">September Anniversaries<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_0331e1a27e9a4586abefeb331e65940a.png_256" width="22"> - Vicki Greene – 1 year
- Lisa Bandemer – 1 year
- Jan Nicodemus – 2 years
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Compassionate Home Care Statistics - 6 Private Pay Clients
- 40 ILS Clients
- 92 Homemaking/Companion, Personal Care Clients
- 39 ICLS Clients
- 17 New Client Referrals in August
- 51 Employees (Trained by August 31)
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CONGRATULATIONS TO JULY'S VIRTUAL MEETING DRAWING WINNERS Thank you to those of you who took time out of your busy lives to view the virtual meeting for July. You have no idea how much we appreciate your dedication to continuing to learn about and support the amazing caregiving efforts of the entire team! Keep striving for client satisfaction. We are so excited to see our outstanding caregivers leading us to the top of the industry! This month, we selected the first person who viewed the meeting, Samantha, and the 7th person who viewed the meeting (since July is the 7th month of the year), and that was Cindy! Congratulations to our July's Winners, Samantha P. and Cindy S.! |
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