EP #13: Stress-Free Vacations with Short-Term Elderly Care: Building Trust and Personalizing Services

Ever wondered how you can enjoy a stress-free vacation while ensuring your elderly loved ones are well taken care of? Find out how in this episode of the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast! Hosts Christy Groulet and Jeremy Wolf dive into the growing trend of families seeking short-term care solutions for their elderly relatives. Learn how Comfort Keepers offers flexible and non-intrusive care options without the burden of long-term contracts or minimum hour requirements. Perfect for those family caregivers who need a much-deserved break, our discussion reveals how these short-term arrangements can gently introduce resistant elderly individuals to outside help, creating a positive shift in their perception and paving the way for future care opportunities.

In the latter half of the episode, we debunk industry stereotypes and highlight the importance of personalized care in building trust. From understanding unique needs like language preferences to fulfilling special requests that make clients feel at home, we share heartfelt stories that illustrate our commitment to creating a welcoming atmosphere. Hear about our memorable experience of assisting a veteran to attend his grandson's graduation from the Air Force Academy and discover innovative trends like the "Hospital to Home" program aimed at improving patient care transitions. Tune in for a rich discussion that promises to leave you informed and inspired about the potential of personalized short-term care for your elderly loved ones.

Please visit our website for more information: https://www.comfortkeepers.com/offices/florida/davie/

Transcript

Jeremy Wolf: 0:02

Welcome to the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast, where we elevate the human spirit.

Kristi Gurule: 0:07

Here's your host, Christy Groulet. Hello, hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Comfort Keepers Davy podcast. I am your lovely co-host, Jeremy Wolf, but not as lovely as your host, Christy Groulet, Thank you.

Jeremy Wolf: 0:26

That was beautifully done. Good morning everyone. Co-host Jeremy Wolf. But not as lovely as your host, Christy Grulay.

Kristi Gurule: 0:30

Thank you, that was beautifully done. Good morning everyone. It was magical, some would say so. We were chatting before the show. You mentioned that we've talked about a wide range of topics on the podcast. You said that something that's been coming up lately has been your Comfort keepers has been called in to help for shorter periods of time when people are going on vacation and they want to bring you in just while they're gone.

Kristi Gurule: 0:51

So talk a little bit about that, maybe some recent experiences, what you're doing in that regard, Because I think a lot of people they wouldn't necessarily look to what you do for such a short period of time. It would be like a more consistent thing. Talk a little bit about that and then we'll kind of navigate accordingly.

Jeremy Wolf: 1:07

Okay, great. Well, vacations can happen anytime. It just seems like they ebb and flow all of the time. And just recently we've had more phone calls inquiring about short-term placement in the home of one of my caregivers to help with an elderly loved one. And that's really what sets us apart, because I don't require contracts, I don't require to come into your home for so many hours a day or days a week. We just want to help you. So this is like a twofold thing. I've seen it play out beautifully for families who are trying to convince their loved one that they need help Trying to convince, because we talked about.

Kristi Gurule: 1:48

We talked about this before elder generations. They're stubborn, they don't want to admit they need help. They'll go to their grave alone and lonely, because simple resistance well, no, I mean, they're confident, they are independent. When I was a kid, I used to to walk to school 10 miles through the snow. It's that mentality, right? So, yeah, a lot of what you do is really working with the children of the parent, and then you're kind of figuring out a way to enter into the world that's not as invasive and threatening as they might feel.

Jeremy Wolf: 2:20

Yeah, exactly, and it's really just to prove that again. This is not what their preconceived notion is. I'm not a nurse coming in. I'm not coming in and it's going to be cold and sterile. I'm coming in to help you while your family is gone. So that's probably been the best thing that's come out of a family who just needs to leave, whether it's over the weekend or they're leaving for a week on a cruise and they really just want someone to come in and help prep meals for mom and dad or or whatever it might be, help just tidy up around the house, maybe help them with their laundry. That is exactly what it is that we'll do, and if it's a week, fantastic. If it's over a weekend, fantastic. If it's one day, that is still okay. We can accommodate all of those things. We want it to make sense for that family and the individuals that we're serving. But what I've seen come out of it is wonderful.

Kristi Gurule: 3:07

They're like oh, that was not at all what.

Jeremy Wolf: 3:09

I expected, I didn't realize it was going to be like this. Yeah, oh, I liked that person Right, and that's that's the epiphany, and that's what I love, because, again, it's a. It's an easy way to do an introduction when you yourself, as the family, need to get out Right. Everybody deserves that respite and it's exhausting, and every I need a vacation, you need a vacation, everybody needs a vacation. But when you're caring for other family members too and you don't want that in the back of your head, worrying about that individual or individuals while you're gone, you should be able to relax and know that if anything does happen, that you'll be receiving a phone call from my team, but nothing will happen. We'll be there, yeah. So that's just been a really big thing here lately and something that, yeah, people don't necessarily think about and it can just be an easy, easy check-in and that's really cool because, again, there's this resistance to getting help.

Kristi Gurule: 4:06

But if you bring somebody in again just for a day or just a short period of time and they see what that process is like and they like it, that opens the conversation about getting more help in the future and it eases the burden of putting somebody in there for a long period of time. It just makes that conversation that much easier to have with your loved ones. I want to go back to that conversation. We touched on this before, but I think it's interesting. How do you at Comfort Keepers typically handle that process? Right, you have a family that comes to you. They say, hey, I need help with my parents, they're getting older, but they're reluctant, they don't want help. What do you do on your end? How do you I know you've mentioned in the past that some tactics that you'd use and some ways you ease into that. Go through that again if you could, because I think that's interesting.

Jeremy Wolf: 4:55

Yeah, of course. So it's really based on each individual. So there are some people that we need to have a whole collaborative effort with the family that's either there, or maybe they're out of state and we wait until they're coming in state. Family that's either there, or maybe they're out of state and we wait until they're coming in state, and we seriously there is itineraries that are made around something like this, and we come in not with a clipboard or a laptop. We don't come in as someone who's trying to sell you something. We come in as a friend of your family, somebody who's already made a connection with his daughter or son or whomever he was that's seeking this Makes so much sense.

Jeremy Wolf: 5:34

Yeah. And so when we come in alongside them and we're introduced by them like this is Christy, If it's me, if this is Christy.

Kristi Gurule: 5:45

Uh-oh, you just muted out there for a second.

Jeremy Wolf: 5:48

She and I have been talking about. Sorry, you just muted out there for a second. She and I have been talking about.

Kristi Gurule: 5:51

Oh Sorry, you just went mute for like 10 seconds there, so I missed what you said Conspiracy. Yeah, they're out to get you, christy. I didn't want to hear it.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:01

Okay. So when I come into somebody's home and I'm introduced to someone's loved one by that family member, it's so much more natural. So I'm Christy I'm here because I've been talking to your daughter and I think that I have an answer to come in and help you with laundry, to help you with these things, and not just jump straight to. I'm going to help you bathe. I'm going to make sure that you're taking your medicine.

Kristi Gurule: 6:27

That could be a really awkward thing if you don't do that right. It's like just bring somebody in, like you said, with a clipboard and like a nurse's shirt on. It's like, hey, we're going to get you in the bath now.

Jeremy Wolf: 6:35

But seriously though I'm not, I am not even going to say that, oh, that goes on. I'm sure that experience something like that and then're like that was not at all what I thought it would be. So it's. It's overcoming these stereotypes, too, that unfortunately are in our industry. We want to break those barriers, and the only way to do it is to build trust, and building trust with a lot of conversations ahead of time. We don't just jump in there. That's really it, and it really. It is case by case. So for, for instance, I don't speak spanish.

Kristi Gurule: 7:09

I really wish that I did I hate that, I no I'll have to teach you it's so sad.

Jeremy Wolf: 7:16

I'm very angry with myself. Go back to my high school days and like yell at myself, I have I have a hispanic wife.

Kristi Gurule: 7:22

She's from peru. Her family all speak spanish. I don't even speak spanishently yet. Shame on me.

Jeremy Wolf: 7:29

We won't go down that road. So I'm sorry I opened that can of worms, but what I'm saying is if I have a family and they know that it would be much more comfortable for their mother or father to have somebody that is fluently bilingual, then I have somebody, I have somebody. It wouldn't be me, it would not be me to come in because that's not comfortable for them. And so we try in every single way to accommodate some of those personalized requests, just so that we can ease our way in to again help them, but really help take the burden off of family that are worried about their loved ones.

Kristi Gurule: 8:09

So important. Yeah, I'm just thinking like, like and men are so, especially men, right, we're like we don't even want to ask for directions, Like in terms of trying to get help, right, it's like, oh, I'll figure it out my own. So, like the idea of having somebody come in the way you frame that right as a friend of the family, as somebody that you already know you're here to just help take a little bit of you know, instead of just, oh, we're going to you know, you need us. You can't do this on your own, so exactly.

Jeremy Wolf: 8:36

It's the approach, and we are very, very personable Each and every one of us are so you can't be somebody that's cold or that can't read someone. That's a big thing too. People don't just become an open book when you come into their home. They're private, so you have to be able to read the situation as well. But we even go a step further Are there pets in the home? What kind of pets do you have? Can I bring a treat for the pet? Like? That is something that will speak volumes to someone.

Jeremy Wolf: 9:04

That's their baby, right, that's their companion. Let me bring something for Rocky. Oh, that's awesome. If that's okay with Rocky, fantastic. So we've got a treat for the pet. I'm a friend of the family. Now, also tell me, does he have a favorite? Does he have a favorite snack? I don't know what time of day are we coming for, coming in the morning. Does he love coffee? Okay, great. Can I pick him up a coffee? Can I bring you guys coffee?

Kristi Gurule: 9:29

I love coffee. I love coffee. Christy, you could bring me coffee. Yes, well, I do too.

Jeremy Wolf: 9:33

So we try to find ways again to come in and make it as comfortable as possible. I'm a visitor in your home, a guest, and I'm showing you all of the respect I can give you, and I'm also bringing you gifts. Most people accept that.

Kristi Gurule: 9:48

I got a question for you.

Jeremy Wolf: 9:50

Yes.

Kristi Gurule: 9:51

I know that you guys do errands with clients and you go places and things like that. Do you ever do comfort keepers, ever actually do travel with elderly people, or is that? Is that not something you do Like in terms of they need to go, like if you need to? Let's say they were down in South Florida and their family was in another location and they wanted to take a road trip, let's say, and go somewhere. Do you accompany on them, accompany them on something like that, or no?

Jeremy Wolf: 10:14

We have, we have, so there's again a lot of logistics behind it and what does that look like? What is the expectation? All of our employees are licensed, bonded, insured, so we want to make sure we've got all of those things on file. But, yes, we've accompanied people I've helped take. My most recent was pretty special, it was out of state even, and we took them to someone's graduation from the Air Force Academy.

Kristi Gurule: 10:42

This was not in Florida but still. Oh, you just went mute again. They're out to get you.

Jeremy Wolf: 10:49

It was really beautiful because there was no other way that this person could have hey keeping everybody on their toes. I have no idea why that's happening, so I'm not sure. So ghost in the machine. Oh geez, don't talk about that. Anyway, we took a gentleman to see his grandson graduate from the Air Force Academy, and that was incredible because he too was a veteran, and it was very special. It was a weekend thing, it was a four-day thing, but the family really had no other way of getting him there.

Jeremy Wolf: 11:22

Our caregiver was like absolutely this gentleman may not be here to see him come back from when he's gone, and that was just really special and it meant so much to that person, but to the grandson, who didn't expect to also see him arrive. So, yes, we can definitely work. We want to personalize as much as we can to make these moments possible.

Kristi Gurule: 11:46

Yeah, so you're always on the cutting edge. You're always doing fun things. I know you do the annual senior prom. You're very active in the community and you're always so busy. You're always moving. What's on the horizon here? What's going on? What news do you have to share? I know you always have something.

Jeremy Wolf: 12:07

I always have something. So something else that is becoming a big trend across the United States is a program called Hospitalling to Home, and what this really is all around is that our hospital systems are very busy and we have a nursing staffing shortage and all of these huge regional hospital organizations and people are coming home too soon without the support that they need and then they're re-hospitalized, and so it's a lot. It's like a big look at it, almost like a turnover, but that's not really. It's like. Readmission rate is very, very high, which is not good for any hospital. So hospitalling to home means that a hospital is going to work closer with organizations like myself that can help bring a client home to get them settled, and, though I cannot do all of the nursing things, a nurse from another organization or from the hospital can come in and do all of the skilled that's required, but then I'm there to ensure that they are remembering to take their medication, that they are eating properly.

Jeremy Wolf: 13:20

Again, these little things preparing the home before they even come home that's something that a lot of people don't think about either. Do we even have a refrigerator full of food when somebody comes home from the hospital? Probably not, and then it's like panic of do I have family in the area that can help me with this? So hospitaling to home is a term that we're going to start seeing more and more and it's being really tested in a few different markets, and we are approaching every single one of our local hospitals, regional hospitals, to say that we are ready we are absolutely ready to be a part of the team for making this all possible.

Kristi Gurule: 13:58

Absolutely love that. I could see how, as you get older, staying in a place like a hospital for too long could have detrimental effects on your mindset and your life. Right and we talked about this also on previous episodes the longer somebody can stay comfortably in their home, the better off they're going to be. Right, taking somebody and just abruptly moving them from their home, where they've been in many cases 30, 40, 50, 60 years, their whole life and then putting them in an assisted living or nursing home, that's like shock to the system. That's got to take some life off the end of your life. At that point, like, the longer you can stay comfortable in your own house, it's going to have you live the longest, most fulfilled life, and that's really what you guys excel at is making people comfortable.

Jeremy Wolf: 14:47

Well, in hospital stuff though, too, jeremy, what's sad is that a lot of times they, a person, will get to a certain amount of days and their insurance says you can't be here anymore. And that's sad, right, and that's like well above, like that's a much bigger, bigger issue. But again, these are what hospitals are running into. And what do you do? You can't just put them out right. They've got to get home. They have to have some kind of support when they get there. So it's a it's an exciting thing.

Kristi Gurule: 15:11

You went mute again. Third time's a charm, you're back.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:18

Hey, I don't even know. Nothing changes on my computer when I go mute. You're still there and everything.

Kristi Gurule: 15:28

Maybe it'll come out perfectly on the actual recording. We'll find out.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:32

It should be determined.

Kristi Gurule: 15:35

It's all good, we roll with the punches around these parts. We do, we do.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:39

I'm good with that. I'm just saying that we are definitely on the front end.

Kristi Gurule: 15:46

Uh-oh, you muted again.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:50

Of everything that's happening in my back.

Kristi Gurule: 15:53

There you are. Yeah, kind of.

Jeremy Wolf: 15:55

It's a joke Cutting edge.

Kristi Gurule: 15:58

It's not about cutting edges.

Jeremy Wolf: 16:00

Now I'm like worried about even talking because I'm going to get cut off.

Kristi Gurule: 16:05

It's a sign that we need to wrap the episode up. I think we talked about some good stuff. Yeah, it was good, always good, always good. So okay, I'm at a loss here, christy, you wrap this one up. Tell everybody Do the whole closing thing. I told you this was an off day, off week, for me. I've been under the weather, deer in headlights, Give me a quick smack across the face, close this one out.

Jeremy Wolf: 16:29

You just remember that if you need any help, Jeremy, that you can always call. You can always call and we will have someone available 24-7, seven days a week, even on holidays, if your wife needs some respite from taking care of you.

Kristi Gurule: 16:42

Good to know.

Jeremy Wolf: 16:50

Just want to put that out there. Well, hopefully, all jokes aside, that the next time that we get to speak together on the Davey Comfort Keepers podcast, that I'll have more information about the hospitaling to home, a new program throughout the United States we're really excited to be a part of. But thank you, jeremy, for helping co-host this lovely podcast and until next time, everyone, have a great day.

Kristi Gurule: 17:11

Adios Take care. Thank you for listening to the Comfort Keepers Davie podcast. For more information, visit comfortkeeperscom or call 954-947-7954.