What Exactly IS ILS?

By Kelsey Breitkreutz, Intern

Having Independent Living Skills (ILS) trainers for our clients is an important service Compassionate Home Care provides. As an ILS Trainer, we can help clients in many more ways than being a homemaker, but what does it really mean for a client to need ILS? The official definition of ILS is that it is a service that develops, maintains, and improves a person's ability to live and thrive independently within the community. We, as caregivers, are trained to help our clients in their area of needs including communication skills, community living and mobility, interpersonal skills, reduction/ elimination of maladaptive behavior, self-care, and sensory/motor development. Some examples within these categories are helping with food preparation and cooking, developing a budget and paying bills, assisting in good decision-making, and helping with daily living skills.

Within these categories, we can help our clients become more independent, develop more opportunities for them to interact with people, and help them reach their personal goals. We also aid in creating a daily routine within their environment as well as give them the tools they need to succeed in this environment. However, there are a few things we cannot d as ILS Trainers. These include training our client in a licensed setting that is not the client's home and giving the client overnight supervision. We, as caregivers, strive to give our client the best care possible by developing, maintaining, and improving their community-living skills while maintaining healthy boundaries for ourselves and our clients. 

Having a Client-Centered Mindset

By Stacey Pinz

Everyone has needs. It's a given that on any given day, someone will need something-- employees and clients. 

We are a healthcare company, so it is important that we maintain a client-first mentality. What does it mean to have a client-first mentality?

It means that sometimes we have to fake it. You may be having a terrible day, but you cannot bring that terrible day to work with you. You take a deep breath, put your terrible day in the trunk of your car, and you go in to do the best you can to meet your client's needs. Your client likely already has some mental health issues, and when their caregivers come in with other concerns and problems, it is not going to help you have a better day to share your worries with your clients. 

I have often quoted the expression: fake it to make it. Try to wear a smile no matter what. You do not want to live in that negative moment forever. Take a lot of deep breaths and exhale that negative situation, feeling, or circumstance out; and always try to maintain a positive and helpful attitude, even when your personal life may be falling apart. Again, projecting our problems on our clients will not make our days any brighter, trust me on this one. 

In addition, when your client is driving you nuts, which will undoubtedly happen, you have to take a lot of deep breaths and find it within yourself to maintain a professional and patient demeanor with the client despite the fact that he or she may be driving you crazy. Practice professionalism at all times. 

If you feel like you need to vent, you can always contact a member of the client-relations team: Christine Daly, Amy Cornelius, Stacey Pinz, and Jan Nicodemus --do NOT vent to your client, and do NOT let the client know that he or she has been driving  you crazy. Remember the line from Finding Nemo? Just keep swimming; use that mindset -- just keep smiling. And remember that this, too, shall pass! We trust in the professionalism and caring attitude of our caregivers, and we know that you have it in you to put the client's needs above your own for the time that you are scheduled with your clients. 

Fortune Cookie Says: There is no glory unless you put yourself on the line. 

JUNE Highlights

(Keep them Coming)

Compassionate Home Care, we have had some important things going on in JUNE!

• Katie has hit the ground running as a homemaker/companion for Compassionate Home Care. She has helped her client clean mold out from under her sink and has helped her get some little maggot-like pests out of the client's carpets. She has definitely been showing her heart for helping people remain independent from the very beginning. (See pictures below)

• Christine helped her client get trash services started after months of mounding garbage. She also helped the client get signed up for online bill payment so if the client is hospitalized he can still pay his bills. She drives him to Aldi so he can purchase bird food. Christine has worked on organizing the client's kitchen. She begins with one end of the kitchen and works her way to the other end of the kitchen. She has been serving her client's needs, and no matter how much of a mess the client has, she always finds serving them a pleasure. She also makes frequent trips to the bank. 
• Jessica has continued to be observant of her client's needs as she has looked for changes and monitored those changes relaying them to the office. She has been working hard to try to develop relationships with her clients despite going through some personal health issues herself. She continues to maintain a professional demeanor. 
• Becky H. has worked to try to help her client to get transportation to church on Sundays. She has communicated with some church staff to help this client. In addition, she has quickly been able to develop relationships with her clients as their homemaker/companion.
• Tami S. has helped several of her clients to clean up years of clutter and disorganization. She has worked to help with some extensive organizing projects and has been able to help her clients feel more comfortable in a clean and sanitary living environment. (see pictures below)
• Amy has been putting in a ton of hours with a variety of ILS clients as various scheduling issues have arisen. She has filled in and visited a number of ILS clients this month, and her patient demeanor and the way she listens without judgment and guides without force is appreciated by the ILS clients she has served. She even helped one of the ILS clients pick out a stylish  wig. (see picture below)
• Miranda has been picking up pieces for her ILS clients who have all seemed to have a lot of extra drama and stress lately. Despite the challenges of all of her clients, she is still professional and thoughtful about how to help her clients deal with their challenging circumstances in the most healthy way possible. 
• Dawn's clients all seem to be giving her extra practice in patience. More than one of her clients has to move, she's been working with a client who likes to throw things across the room (perhaps even towards her), and one of her clients has been hospitalized. Through the challenges, Dawn has kept smiling and seems to take the challenges as they come and one day at a time. We appreciate your constant professionalism, Dawn. 
• Lucrecia has been working hard for her clients, and fulfills all of their needs to the best of her ability. She aims to make sure her clients' needs are met through strong communication and compassion. 
• Mary has been advocating for her client's needs and has been working to to help her client's lead independent lives through practicing healthy choices and making decisions that are in line with their goals. 
• Vicki has continued to work hard at tackling one room at a time for her client who has many years of dust to cut through. Her client's woodwork and smooth surfaces haven't looked this clean in years! (see pictures below)
• Miranda and Darlene both received kudos e-mails from a case manager who says Miranda is talked about very positively about her staff, and Darlene went above and beyond to bring her client into  the agency to complete paperwork. 

Look at all of that hard work!

Welcome Our New Employees in June

Read more about our newest team members by clicking on the links below!

Katie Dupont

Mary Aguilar

Jacquelyn McKenney

Keshea Pegross

McKenna Ulferts

Homemaking/Companion Care Staff:

Darlene Hunz

Darlene joined the Compassionate Home Care team in February and quickly became the highlight of her clients' weeks. She has gone above and beyond simply homemaking/companion services as she brings her clients to important appointments, helps them with paperwork, and supports their mental health needs by being there as a support system. She has quickly been able to build rapport with her clients as she works to learn about what motivates them and challenges them about living at home independently. In addition, she has been able to help some of her clients to make choices about other aspects of their lives. Recently, Compassionate Home Care received an e-mail from a case manager praising Darlene for the way she went above and beyond the call of duty assisting her client with important paperwork and making sure she was able to get some important paperwork done on time to continue receiving services. Darlene has jumped into this role and immediately began making a difference in her clients' lives. She has even begun to pick up some ILS clients, which demonstrates her ability to learn quickly and expand her new skills into new a new role. We enjoy having Darlene on the CHC team, and we are excited to see her expand her caregiving role.

ICLS/Direct Caregiver:

Cathy Schmidt

Cathy joined the team as an experienced caregiver having worked in healthcare for many years. She joined the team and immediately won the hearts of her clients. She listens to their needs compassionately and whole-heartedly. She works to immediately help to improve her client's lives. Cathy sees a need and is proactive about meeting that need to her best ability, and she is quick to communicate with the office when she sees concerns and/or additional needs One of Cathy's strongest characteristics has been her strong communication both with clients as well as the office. She strives to uphold Compassionate Home Care's mission of being client-centered and striving to help the client to remain as independent as possible while at home. CHC appreciates all that Cathy has done to make her clients' lives better. 

<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">June Birthdays<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">

• Carrie Olson – June 15th
• Lucrecia Sams--June 22nd
• Bradley Lay– June 25th
• Lisa Bandemer – June 27th 

<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">July Birthdays<img height="22" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/5e9922_3509e29d40d24b53b9ea6064d03de5c0.png_256" width="22">

• McKenna  Ulferts -- July 8
• Tracy Skaar--July 15
• Jacquelyn McKenney – July 17

CONGRATULATIONS TO MAY'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 May. 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 decided to give one gift card to the first person to sign the attendance form and  one to the 6th person to sign (since June is the 6th month). Congratulations to Ashley and Mary!

Congratulations to our May's Winners!