Commonwise Home Care

After surgery home care is necessary for seniors due to the increased risk of complications that can occur.

After a long period of hospitalization or immobility, patients can find it difficult to move freely and safely without assistance. Transfers and ambulation are helpful techniques to know for caregivers but should be treated with great caution and require professional training.

Falling, to some degree, is a natural part of life. We fall learning how to walk, ride a bike, play sports, etc. and are taught to simply brush it off and get back up again. As we age, casually “getting back up” is no easy feat and the recovery time after a fall takes longer and longer. For the elderly, falls can be fatal.

Mental illness is a serious subject to discuss at any age and can take on a variety of forms over the course of a person’s life. Depression is not simply “feeling sad” or “off” on certain days and anxiety is more than just “being worried.”

National Preparedness Month is all about preparing for disasters—natural or not—before they happen. Seniors especially need assistance during emergencies because they aren’t as agile and healthy as younger individuals.

September is a beautiful time of year on the East Coast. The sweltering hot, humid weather from summer starts to cool off, and fall is in the air.

A collection of untidy items lying around the house not only creates chaos for seniors, but too much clutter can become a safety hazard. Clutter can lead to misplaced or unpaid bills, forgotten medications, and increase the risk of falls.

Approximately 30% of people who are diagnosed with Psoriasis will develop Psoriasis Arthritis (PsA). Unfortunately, seniors are not often diagnosed as quickly as they should be with Psoriasis.

August is Cataract Awareness Month, and as one of the dominant eye problems in the senior population, we want to provide more information on this condition.

Severe weather can strike at any time, during any season. In the case of a hurricane, tornado, or another natural disaster, caregivers should prepare seniors with a plan of action. Home care services can assist seniors in getting ready for these disasters and staying safe in the process.

Eating right and having balanced nutrition can be hard for anyone, no matter their age. Over time, nutrition tends to fall to the wayside. Eating at least one healthy meal a day can be a struggle, let alone three.

With summer in full swing, the temperatures are tipping the scale and reaching triple digits. While summer means BBQ’s, beach trips, and late sunsets, it can also be hazardous to the senior population. Older adults are more prone to heat-related health problems and should be carefully monitored.

As a caregiver, it can be hard to spot dehydration symptoms in the elderly. Older individuals do not tend to get thirsty as quickly as someone younger, making the signs a challenge to identify. Learn the signs of dehydration and how to keep older adults hydrated in the warmer months.

As summer quickly approaches and temperatures heat up, hydration plays a big role in our health and well-being. Outdoor activities make it easy to forget to regularly hydrate, which can be detrimental. For the elderly population, staying hydrated is increasingly vital.

Did you know June is Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness month? We put together a guide to help you and your loved ones understand the importance of brain health.

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. The focus for this month is on supporting those living with Alzheimer’s and/or Dementia.

June is National Safety Month so it only seems appropriate to talk about elderly fall risk and prevention. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 out of 4 adults (65 and over) will have a fall; 1 out of 5 falls will lead to a serious injury.

Medication Safety is an important topic to cover during National Safety Month. As we age, we tend to add more and more medications to our drug regimen. Adding medications may increase the risk of drug interactions. The older we are, the harder it is on our bodies to break down and process these medications.

For the past 6 years, the clinical care at Commonwise has been overseen by one dynamic Registered Nurse, Amber Best Roberts, and a litany of gifted Care Managers and Caregivers. To say we appreciate our nurses is a tremendous understatement. Happy nurse appreciation week!

Inevitably, when navigating care for parents, adult children ask me whether they should purchase policies for themselves.

When opening a policy, your provider may ask you what you want to do with the assignment of benefits (AOB). You have two options: assigning to yourself or the home care provider. There are pros and cons to each.

When the time comes, either you – or one of your adult children – will need to open your policy to receive reimbursement. Make sure you have kept track of your paperwork, policy numbers, and managed your POA accordingly.

As the Commonwise Home Care (Charlottesville) Director of Nursing, I recently had the opportunity to help a client return to his home after he had spent almost half the year in facilities. I quickly realized what an honor this was and that watching him become reacquainted with his home will now and forever be a highlight in my nursing career.

Like any insurance, the quality of your coverage depends on the type of policy you purchased. However, there are a few constants that are important to know as you begin the process of opening your policy and setting up care. Here are three items common to every policy that you should familiarize yourself with.

A heartwarming example of compassionate care and the lasting impact it can have on our neighbors.

This is the first post of a five-part series intended to share more about the complex world of long term care insurance and its impact on home care consumers.

Charleston is a beautiful place. A temperate climate, beautiful beaches, excellent restaurants and cultural offerings keep the city relevant and dynamic. When the tourists melt away, those of us lucky enough to live here get to explore Shem Creek, Middleton Plantation, boutiques on King St., and the cobblestone alleyways South of Broad year round.

As word of our excellent caregivers and reputation for providing premium home care has continued to spread, Commonwise is excited to announce that we have opened our newest branch in RVA!

While there are many wonderful aspects to life in the low country, extreme weather can certainly be stressful and frustrating. When the winds start blowing and the flood warnings flash, families and clients are left with difficult decisions about whether to stay put or evacuate.

The Commonwise team has grown in the last six months. As a refresher for our seasoned staff and in order to align the newcomers, we are taking time out of every weekly meeting to review one of our core values. On Wednesday we discussed “integrity.”

It’s hard to find anyone these days who hasn’t seen a loved one need home care. I’ve had several family members need care; the very best and very worst of caregiving. I know how incredibly transformative excellent home care can be.

Since becoming a national holiday in 1870, the Fourth of July has been celebrated with many traditions, including backyard games, neighborhood barbecues, and the symbolic fireworks shows.

We are proud to share this inspiring story from “UVA Today” about Rebecca Abdul.

Longtime Commonwise Care Team member Nami Rosado reported in for a regular day of caregiving and ended up saving a life.

Commonwise believes in the therapeutic power of music.

11 letters of recommendation were written on behalf of Commonwise caregivers in 2017.

A new guide to managing in-home care efforts has been authored by Commonwise client Leslie Eckford, LCSW.

Support for your loved one (and family) in their final days.

After a year of consistent, reliable and high-quality care, a former client’s daughter shares her appreciation for the exceptional personal care and emotional support her parents received from the Commonwise care team.

Earlier this year, we faced a new, but welcomed, challenge: We were receiving too many caregiver applications!

Meet Diane, an exceptionally gifted caregiver who felt called to home health work.

Valeria Niehaus searched diligently for in-home care for her in-laws.

As machines grow increasingly sophisticated, we are compelled to ask: What can a human do that a robot can’t?

The average American underestimates the cost of in-home long-term care by almost 50%, according to the Genworth 2017 Cost of Care study.

Adam Parker made the difficult decision to bring his mother home to spend her final weeks with his family. It turned out to be a decision he will forever cherish.

Jonathan Dickinson is one of our exceptional caregivers. When he learned that his friend and client John had a favorite place to visit, he went out of his way to make a little riverside trek possible.

Every family has the kind of story that expands and embellishes over time.

A haunting article by reporter-at-large Rachel Aviv, published in The New Yorker, shows how court appointed guardians can sell the assets and control the lives of senior citizens without their consent—and reap a profit from it.

The need for qualified caregivers continues to grow, and Commonwise Home Care has created a new option for reduced-cost training for home care workers.

An op-ed we published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch explores the shortage of excellent home care aides and how outstanding training can help solve this crisis.

A basic background and reference check is all that is required for most home health care agencies. Sometimes, though, that’s not enough.

As the majority of aging Americans want to stay in their own homes, the need for in-home caregivers is escalating.

Employees in the home care industry deserve higher wages than the industry standard.