The wide world of the home healthcare and non-medical in-home care comes rife with a variety of disciplines. From clinicians to nursing assistants to patient relations, home healthcare and in-home care often attracts certain personalities with specific skill sets. So who’s working in this field? Meet a trio of professionals, each occupying their own corner of the home healthcare world.
LISA MACHADO, OWNER OF VISITING ANGELS
Nearly a decade ago, Lisa Machado and her husband, Mario, were feeling the grueling crunch of the recession. A product of downsizing, Lisa soon found herself without a job, staring the future square in the face.
“During the time I was out of work,” she recalls, “my husband and I were very interested in finding something completely new to do, a second career.”
The couple, intent on starting their own business, began investigating the possibilities. After much research, they decided on in-home care.
“It not only seemed to be a tremendous need,” she says, “but it seemed to be a type of work where we could do something that was more meaningful, give back to the community and at the same time have a second career.”
The Machados purchased a franchise of Visiting Angels, a non-medical in-home care company. As one of 16 Visiting Angel franchises in Georgia, the Machados serve Alpharetta, Milton, Woodstock and Canton.
After diving head first into a new career, the revelations came quick.
“What surprised me the most was we’re entering people’s homes usually in a moment of crisis,” she says. “And this is not a luxury service. It’s tied to a major health event.”
This might mean the client’s health is declining rapidly, maybe someone has suffered a fall, or perhaps the patient has just been discharged from the hospital, nursing home or rehabilitation facility.
“Usually the family is under great duress when they call and when we go in,” Machado explains. “It’s then up to us to come up with a solution, whether it’s a specific schedule or a certain type of care.”
As co-owner of Visiting Angels, Machado is often the person who steps in to gather a client’s information and learn about their needs. Her company refers to it as a family consult or initial home visit.
“I talk about how we can make it customized and unique for them, offer them schedules and talk about how we staff our employees. I can talk firsthand about the hiring process. That’s something that makes people nervous, because they’re bringing strangers into their homes.”
All Visiting Angels caregivers are certified nursing assistants and specialize in non-medical aid, including bathing, dressing, ambulation and more. They work in conjunction with medical home health and hospice companies, whose representatives make periodic visits.
Machado explains that unlike working in a healthcare facility, in-home care proves to be a more customized, personalized service. Before sending a caregiver into a specific home, the Machados review the case, the individual needs, the client’s likes and dislikes, and details all the way down to the family dog.
“We have to customize to that level to make sure that it’s a good experience not just for the person we’re caring for, but also for the caregiver going into the home,” she says.
Yet no matter how prepared a caregiver can be, challenges await. For example, an elderly client with a bevy of health problems, a roster of medications and the inability to verbalize and express feelings of pain can be mired in frustration. As long as the care recipient is even a bit receptive, Machado is confident her staff can win he or she over.
Despite the hurdles, Machado says the field has proven to be the gratifying vocation she was looking for.
“We get lots of hugs and do get called angels everyday,” she says with a chuckle. “And that’s extremely rewarding.”
NIVEEN LICATA, PATIENT CARE REPRESENTATIVE AT GEORGIA HOME HEALTH/LHC GROUP
Niveen Licata’s interest in home healthcare first came out of necessity. With an ailing grandmother in need of help, reality struck.
“One of the things I found was you don’t realize what you need to know until the minute you need to know it,” Licata says.
She soon came to the conclusion that many people in the home healthcare industry who service the geriatric population are, for the most part, overworked and under appreciated. They have to focus on the task at hand, she says, and no one is really positioned as a resource.
“After having an idea of what people went through, I was drawn to it,” she explains. “I wanted to be in a position to help people.”
So Licata segued from pharmaceutical sales to the community relations side of home health. As a patient care representative, Licata works with case managers —social workers at hospitals, rehabilitation facilities or nursing homes— to transition patients home. This involves arranging skilled nursing services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and, if necessary, a home health aid.
“And we also work with patients who aren’t able to leave their homes without a taxing effort,” Licata says. “And we try to get them in a position where they’re either better off or they show some progress. …It’s all about their quality of life and making it more manageable for the family as well.”
According to Licata, one of the most common misconceptions regarding home healthcare is that it’s a transportation or companion care service and for patients who can’t afford any other type of care.
“Home health involves skilled services prescribed by a physician,” Licata explains. “ It’s usually in conjunction with other things a physician is doing to try and keep the patient from being admitted or readmitted to the hospital. You want the client to feel safe.”
While navigating the landscape of home healthcare, Licata admits she quickly learned what it takes to be of maximum service in the field. Skilled multitaskers have the ability to rise to the top. Add to that a sense of empathy, and a desire to not only offer your company’s services, but to serve as a resource of information for patients and their families.
“A lot of times when a patient is discharged from a rehabilitation facility or hospital, the family is so overwhelmed,” Licata says. “It’s great to be able to see families sit back, take a breath and feel like things are going to be OK.”
JERRI CABLE, PHYSICAL THERAPIST, VISITING NURSE HEALTH SYSTEM
After working 12 years as an outpatient physical therapist, Jerri Cable’s clinic closed its doors. With some previous home health experience under her belt, Cable was soon back in the saddle working for Visiting Nurse Health System. Variety, she says, soon became the spice of her new profession.
“I need variety in my life,” Cable says with a tinge of laughter. “And this job gives me that, because we treat just about everything. We treat all kinds of diagnoses, different diseases, and we have orthopedic patients as well as medical patients.”
Variety, however, often puts Cable in new experiences with fresh challenges. When she worked in a clinic environment, she saw general orthopedic problems. On any given day she might find herself working with orthopedic issues combined with various conditions and different diagnoses that are more medically related.
“So it’s very challenging, because you have a lot of different factors that enter in,” she explains, “not just in the functional parameters that we have to work through in physical therapy, but the medical aspect. This might require research.”
But it’s scheduling, she says, that can often prove to be the biggest challenge. With six to nine appointments per day, Cable has to route her travel, work around her clients’ meal schedules and juggle paperwork, not to mention conduct the physical therapy sessions themselves.
According to Cable, this requires a certain type of demeanor. You have to be a people person, she says, with the ability to read different personalities. Maintaing patience and Zen-like calm continues to be essential.
Sure, the challenges can mount hight, but that’s what Cable loves about her job.
“It challenges you in every way,” she explains, “physically and mentally. And it often makes me stop and think about how I take care of myself. It’s a pretty awesome profession.”
