Home Remedies was founded in 1997 as a result of home modifications associated with caring for a senior family member. Discussions with our discharge planner revealed a serious shortage in the number of qualified home modification services available to frail seniors making the transition from hospital to in home care.
After commenting on the changes we had already made in our own home, I was asked for a business card. At the time I had six of my corporate cards with me as I was in the private sector. Within a month of just those six cards, my phone started ringing. Within the first year it was clear to my wife and I that there was no one reliable offering this type of service. Calls were coming in from case managers both public and private. Calls from other discharge planners, physical and occupational therapists, charitable and educational sectors also became familiar. Over time, common problems and their solutions became easier to identify by asking the four questions to better planning. As part of a needs assessment, this helps the family caregiver identify solutions that work best for them.
I received a great deal of support and encouragement early on from local senior advocates and clinical social workers, to operate what would become Home Remedies. A provider of service that is licensed and insured. Local, reliable and responsible were all words to describe a business that today averages 300 families a year.
In October of 1999, Home Remedies appeared on the back page of the business section. The Ventura County Star ran a new in business article. Responses to that article continued for almost three years. Home Remedies has never done any advertisement or promotional since.
Most of my early referrals came directly from hospitals. As time went on and I would be in a client's home, I always gave my card to the paid caregivers who might be there. This information would get back to an office where there might be fifteen caregivers working. Word of mouth spread among all the local agencies that provide medical or social services to seniors. Trust is what makes this possible.
In 2003, I was invited to a meeting at my Area Agency on Aging as Home Remedies was providing services to seniors in the county. Ideas were requested on ways to help family caregivers cope with the stresses of the role. An idea was shared for a home modification grant to provide vouchers for specific services. Approval came from the California Department of Aging and a new public/private collaboration was born. In 2004, Home Remedies could now take a referral from the community, perform a needs assessment, and have the funding to make the minor changes based on the findings. The time from first contact to service completed is measured in days. In the first grant year, Home Remedies saw 125 unduplicated families under this new program. Complete with satisfaction survey. The voucher would cover a basic needs assessment. Attached to the needs assessment was a small stipend to make the required modifications. The stipend is small, but is enough to install some grab bars or an entry ramp or many other services offered by Home Remedies. Seniors who no longer worried about costs were more prone to making the necessary changes. Some changes need to be completed before discharge can happen. The program gained acceptance as more care providers felt comfortable referring their clients. It is safe to say that this program helped many seniors stay living independent longer in their own home. To qualify under the (111E) program you had to be over 60 years of age, have someone acting as caregiver (usually a spouse), and live in the service area as described by the funding agency. Costs per voucher were $320.00 and included a $245.00 stipend for services, with the balance for a needs assessment. Funds not used in the stipend would go back into the pool and another voucher could be drawn. This meant that the 75 vouchers bargained for ended up seeing 125 families per year. Data collected would show an average expense per family to be $180.00. Other statistics were also gathered. Anyone receiving a voucher had an opportunity to contribute towards costs.
Over the next few years, title 111B funds were also made available to Home Remedies that did not have the caregiver requirement. This meant seniors living alone also qualified. Home Remedies feels there is a staggering number of seniors who make five cents over the poverty limit, and completely underserved. A family's income was never considered as a qualifier.
The amount of practical experience Home Remedies gained so far led to speaking at senior centers and developing educational materials. The "Family guide to trip and fall prevention" was done while sitting on a trip and fall prevention committee funded by Archstone. The presentation is still in use and prompts a narrator through a twenty five minute lecture. As a VCAAA grantee, Home Remedies developed a booklet called Coming Home-Understanding home modifications that was later published by AuthorHouse under the title "Making the Transition to Home: simple modifications to encourage independent living" by Paul Furtaw.
Home Remedies has seen every malady known to man and has seen the entire socio-economics of the county. "You would have a hard time surprising me". The stories collected from a wide range of seniors over the years have also been very interesting. The pioneer spirit came in ships and over dirt roads. The level of self reliance in people often means families don't need my services until they need my services. This is the time stress runs through the family and simple modifications that could benefit the caregiver are not done. A trend in pre surgical and pro active modifications is possible with early involvement of the therapists.
A busy schedule includes working with seniors, but also with the disabled and those with chronic problems. Home Remedies has built specialized pieces of furniture approved for use in long term care for children. Consulting with group home development, or doing in service meetings for providers and support groups means Home Remedies can speak on a number of topics.
As time moved on, other cities in the county requested the voucher program be made available, and Home Remedies was under a lot of pressure to grow. I often heard the comment, "why are there not more people like you". In 2007, A second service provider with an interest in what Home Remedies was doing was identified, and ultimately able to provide similar services based on the Home Remedies model in other parts of the county. It became clear to me many years ago, that the greatest barrier to independent living facing an aging population is a lack of responsible service people who would have a level of trust and expertise to offer specific home modifications. Over the next few years, I would work on ways to remedy this. The "Home Remedies Project" is becoming a reality. A new non-profit agency to teach a business model and expand the base of service providers is currently in development.
In July of 2010, the Grant program with Home Remedies came to a close after six years. The grant reporting requirements and the problem of not being able to supplement funds when grant funds were exhausted became an issue for the funding agency.
The Camarillo Caregiver and Wellness center opened and funded a new county wide voucher program. This was in addition to funding made available by the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging. These two funding agencies now use a service contract with Home Remedies to supply services and stream lined the process.
Home Remedies is currently in discussions with another city whose boundary extends into the neighboring county and interested in offering service vouchers to their local seniors.
Removing the barriers to independent living and allowing the transition from a care facility to home continues to be a very interesting experience. Helping the frail and elderly remain in their own home has made clear to me how strong the desire is that they be able to do so. As the baby boomers grow older, the desire to be able to live independent is also a growing concern.
January 2011, the baby boomers start rising dramatically as a demographic.
Home Remedies continues to offer services.
