dementia

Franchised provider of in-home caregiving services enhances DementiaWise program to address growing need of person-centered care

TROY, Mich. — ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, is proud to announce the launch of DementiaWise® 2.0. This expanded program builds upon the foundation of its original proprietary program, DementiaWise®, an occupation-based, team-centered training program designed to help elevate the standard of dementia care. The DementiaWise® program is aimed at better equipping home care teams to resolve dementia-related challenges collaboratively with clients and their families with a person-centered approach.

With an emphasis on person-centered care, the advanced training module delves deeper into the stages of dementia to tailor care strategies specific to each stage. DementiaWise 2.0, delivered through ComForCare’s Learning Management System, Relias, provides caregivers an eight-chapter training program containing stage-specific care strategies, new staging guides, caregiver daily schedules and a DW2.0 manual.

“Nearly seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and this number is projected to nearly triple by 2060. This marks a crucial need to equip direct care workers with the tools and strategies to support individuals living with dementia to not only successfully age in place at home, but to thrive,” said Stephanie Wierzbicka, Director of Strategic Health Programs at ComForCare. “In recognition of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month and beyond, ComForCare is committed to advancing the comprehensive curriculum of the DementiaWise program by innovating to provide the utmost care and support for individuals and families affected by the disease that is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.”

Since its inception in 2013, DementiaWise has been recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association for incorporating evidence-based dementia care practices. As part of its ongoing collaboration, ComForCare has featured Kristin Moore Bennett, Health Systems Director of the Alzheimer’s Association, on its 2023 and 2024 podcast episodes to discuss the annual Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures report, providing listeners with a comprehensive look into dementia care navigation.

“At ComForCare, we prioritize the essential need for equipping caregivers with every resource and tool available to ensure they have the expertise to care for and positively impact the overall quality of life for clients living with dementia,” said Rebecca Bouchard, Brand President of ComForCare. “In 2022 ComForCare supported a Duke University study that validated the effectiveness of our DementiaWise program, and with the launch of DementiaWise 2.0, we are only furthering our commitment to providing comprehensive, stage-specific care strategies that empower caregivers and enhance the well-being of clients.”

The launch of DementiaWise 2.0 ahead of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month underscores ComForCare’s dedication to advancing the care and support for individuals living with dementia. To learn more, visit ComForCare DementiaWise. To view and apply to open positions, visit ComForCare Career Days.

Leading provider of in-home caregiving services launches new podcast series to provide expert commentary on need-to-know topics for aging services professionals. 

TROY, Mich. — ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, recently launched a new podcast, ComForConnections. The fresh podcast series aims to deliver insightful discussions and expert analysis on essential subjects for professionals in the aging services industry.

“Staying up to date on the latest research and resources can be daunting especially in the dynamic senior care continuum,” said J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, parent company to ComForCare/At Your Side. “This podcast is a great opportunity to share vital information on the myriad of issues that come with aging.”

The pilot episode, which is titled “Alzheimer’s Disease: Facts, Figures & Best Practices,” provides updates and insights from the 2023 version of the Alzheimer’s Disease: Facts and Figures Report and transitions in care recommendations when providing care to an individual living with Alzheimer’s disease. e of. Future episode topics will cover fall risk prevention, person-centered dementia care best practice, staff retention tips, leveraging technology and more.

“We are committed to providing valuable information and resources to our partners, so that together we can help enhance the quality of life of the clients we serve,” said Jennifer LoBianco, Chief Marketing Officer of Best Life Brands.

Visit www.comforconnections.com to listen to podcast episodes and access resources. ComForConnections podcasts are also available for download on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean app, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn+Alexa, and the majority of podcast apps. For more information on ComForCare, visit www.comforcare.com.

90% of employees in Canada agreed that ComForCare is a great place to work for giving back.

VANCOUVER, BC — ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, has recently received the honor of being named one of the 2023 Best Workplaces™ for Giving Back by Great Place To Work^® in Canada. This marks the first year ComForCare has earned this prestigious certification with 90% of employees agreeing that “I feel good about the way our organization contributes to the community.” It is the second year, ComForCare designated as a Great Place to Work in Canada.

ComForCare received this honor after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work. Such recognition confirms the positive workplace culture cultivated by ComForCare franchisees, as well as the brand’s emphasis on helping others live their best lives.

The list is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations that were surveyed by Great Place to Work. To be eligible for this list, organizations must be Great Place to Work- Certified™ and have exceptionally high scores from employees on the Trust Index survey.

“We are incredibly honored to have been certified on the esteemed 2023 Best Workplaces for Giving Back in Canada,” stated J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, the parent company of ComForCare. “Our devoted franchisees go above and beyond to prioritize caregiver fulfillment, resulting in increased loyalty and enhanced client satisfaction. Caregivers truly form the core of our business, and it is our utmost priority to ensure they feel valued and take pride in being part of our company.”

Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, certifies employers based on how fairly employees are treated. In addition, companies are assessed on how well they create an exceptional employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, or any other aspect of an employee’s character or role.

Earning Great Place to Work Certification proves that a company has an excellent employee experience, validated by their own staff. Certification is entirely based on what employees say, especially how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Being Certified™ provides a company with a literal badge of excellence. It denotes to current employees, jobseekers, and other companies within their industry that their organization is the best of the best.

About Great Place to Work^®:

Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. A global research and consulting firm, Great Place to Work^® provides the benchmarks and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place to Work^® produces both industry and demographic specific Best Workplace™ lists, and represents the voices of 500,000 employees across industry. This is part of the world’s largest annual workplace study, recognizing the world’s Best Workplaces in a series of national lists including those published by The Globe & Mail (Canada) and Fortune magazine (USA). Visit us at www.greatplacetowork.ca

Technology will enable older adults with diverse care needs to confidently and safely live at home with proactive and ongoing support.

TROY, Mich. — ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, forges an exclusive partnership with Connected Home Living, the leader in remote patient care, to introduce Connected Care for clients. The new technology will be integrated into ComForCare/At Your Side’s in-home care protocol to monitor vital signs, alerts, medications, mental and physical state of older adults cared for, on a daily basis, ensuring continuity of care and rapid intervention for best possible outcomes.

“This partnership is a transformative step forward in our commitment to delivering comprehensive and compassionate care to our clients,” stated J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, parent company of ComForCare/At Your Side Home Care. “The integration of virtual care into daily use alongside our hands-on, in-home care is revolutionizing the way we empower older adults to maintain their independence and well-being. With the ability to detect weakness, illness, and support dementia progression, caregivers can respond swiftly and manage proactively, ultimately gaining more time to focus on an individual’s social and well-being needs that are crucial to thriving in the home.”

Connected Care enhances care with:

Fall Detection: the fall detection technology responds within minutes without the need for cameras or wearables. Placed throughout the home, 4D-radar-enabled fall detection devices detect falls by triggering an automated response when someone falls below a certain height threshold. The technology is always active and ready to intervene.

Wellness Monitoring: non-intrusive sensors gather real-time activity and daily living patterns to establish a baseline for individuals. This helps ensure that everything is okay by learning normal day and nighttime activities. When there’s a deviation from this baseline, remote care coordinators are alerted to address potential risks. Data is always being reviewed to allow for identification of unusual patterns and to provide better insights.

Daily Virtual Calls: individuals can receive personalized care and support from remote care coordinators via video calls and regular check-ins. The coordinators monitor the individual’s medical conditions and ensure that they have access to necessary medications and household supplies. If any items are missing, the coordinators respond promptly to address the issue. These calls not only combat loneliness but also build personal relationships and improve the overall wellness of the individual.

Chronic Disease Management: Bluetooth telehealth devices (such as a weight scale, blood pressure, or pulse oxygen) and an app on a phone or tablet enable home management of chronic conditions (where location licensing permits). These devices capture vital information, to ensure they remain stable,and provide medication reminders. Alerts and follow-ups are sent for missed check-ins, and symptom changes are monitored.

“We are looking forward to this partnership with ComForCare and At Your Side Home care to bring technological efficiencies and prioritize care and resources to older adults. This integrated approach of in-home care and technology allows an older adult to reach optimal health and thrive in their home,” says Neil Tantingco, founder and CEO of Connected Home Living. “We are passionate about supporting patients and their families by extending the care management team, reducing social isolation, and promoting healthy behaviors.”

Connected Care will be rolling out across ComForCare and At Your Side Home Care franchise locations over the next several months.

To learn more about ComForCare, visit www.comforcare.com.

To learn more about Connected Home Living, visit www.connectedhomeliving.com

About Connected Home Living:

Connected Home Living is the leader in remote patient monitoring and telehealth services with over 400 nationwide home health, hospital, private care, and independent/assisted living clients operating in Canada and the U.S. Our Mission is to bridge the gap in health care and enable the individuals to heal in the privacy of their own home. We help adults stay out of the hospital and assist our clients in providing first class, quality care in a unique way. Boasting an astonishing 2-8% readmission rate company wide, Connected Home Living partners with award winning industry leaders in software and hardware to provide a full circle of product, software and services for chronic disease management, virtual caregiving, and fall safety. Connected Home Living is committed to helping people live their best lives possible and offers special programs, including remote companionship, virtual activities, and state of the art fall detection and wellness monitoring. Founded in 2015, Connected Home Living has been privately held and funded with an intimate group of friends and family.

TROY, Mich. — ComForCare/At Your Side, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, awarded the 2022 Franchisee of the Year award to Rick, Donna and Rudy Wrabel, At Your Side Home Care owners in Houston, TX. The award recognized their dedication to clients and consistently excellent service. The 20th annual ComForCare/At Your Side franchise conference took place March 2-4 in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, welcoming over 225 staff members and franchisees.

“It is truly an honor for our family to be recognized for this award,” said Rick Wrabel. “We are dedicated to providing the leadership and tools to help our caregivers provide the highest level of service to our clients. We are passionate about serving our community and helping our clients live their best lives possible at home.”

The Franchisee of the Year is awarded to the ComForCare/At Your Side franchisee who displays the highest level of excellence in leadership, performance, the ability to sustain growth over several years, willingness to help others in the system become the best they can be, and the demonstration of pride in the brand.

“The Wrabel family is the epitome of what you would expect from someone receiving an award of this prestige,” said J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, parent company to ComForCare/At Your Side. “They embody the ComForCare/At Your Side values within their office, and to the population they serve. They care for their clients as family, serve the community passionately, realize that dignity matters, are present and engaged in managing their internal and external staff, and have fun while they do it. They have done all of this as a family affair and together have made this business their life passion.”

In addition to announcing awards within the network, the conference was held to help energize the ComForCare/At Your Side teams and provide new tools and insights on making the most significant impact possible for franchisees and the families that ComForCare/At Your Side serves. The schedule was full of expert guest speakers, networking, and informative breakout sessions.

To learn more about ComForCare franchising, visit www.comforcare.com/franchising.

Family owned business will now serve clients from North Miami to Vero Beach.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Family owned and operated ComForCare Senior Services of Palm Beach, a private-duty non-medical home health agency, has acquired a major position and operating control of the existing ComForCare operations in Broward and Dade counties. This new partnership will bring ComForcare Home Care’s South Florida operations to a total of seven territories with the team now servicing clients from North Miami to Vero Beach. The existing team members in Broward and Dade will remain in place.

“While we have always been somewhat connected to our friends to our South, having the opportunity to bring our operations and management skills to this growing market is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Scott Greenberg, CEO of ComForCare South Florida. “We believe the combination of our skills and their rich history of quality care will allow us to serve more people in need and help them live their best lives possible.”

ComForCare South Florida, now serving North Miami to Vero Beach, is a premier provider of private-duty home care to the area’s senior population. Services include assistance with all activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, feeding, transferring, ambulation and toileting. Additional services include transportation, medication reminders, light housekeeping and meal preparation. The Palm Beach office is also DementiaWise®-certified, meeting the corporate office’s high standards for dementia education and caregiving excellence. ComForCare of Palm Beach has nationally-certified Alzheimer’s educators and Parkinson’s care expertise.

“The team in Palm Beach are shining examples of ComForCare’s core values of serving clients passionately, understanding the importance of preserving dignity, and they believe in having fun. It brings me great pleasure to witness their business expanding to serve even more clients in South Florida,” said J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, the parent company of ComForCare/At Your Side. “They treat their office staff, caregivers and clients as family, are active members of the communities they serve, and approach their work with a fierce dedication. As a family affair, they have poured their passion and energy into this business and made it their life’s mission.”

For more information on ComForCare South Florida, visit
https://www.comforcare.com/florida/palm-beach-gardens.html

TROY, Mich. — Franchise Dictionary Magazine recognizes ComForCare, a franchised provider of in-home caregiving services, as one of the top 100 Game Changers of 2022. This recognition highlights franchises that fill a niche, help the communities they are a part of, and provide opportunities for aspiring business owners.

“It’s an honor to once again be included on the Top 100 Game Changers list,” said J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, parent company to ComForCare/At Your Side. “Our entire franchise network has been working hard to bring in-home care to communities all across North America. This recognition underscores the importance of serving an aging population with compassion and integrity. We look forward to reaching even more growth milestones in 2023.”

ComForCare has been providing quality services to the aging population for over 20 years. Driven by compassion and the desire to bring peace of mind to seniors and their families, ComForCare places caregivers in the homes of older adults who want to be independent, or provides respite care for family caregivers.

Alesia Visconti, CEO of Franchise Dictionary Magazine says, “2022 was a year of rebuilding and success in the franchise community. A brand that earns the Top 100 Game Changers designation has gone the extra mile to improve people’s lives and sets itself apart! We are THRILLED to recognize and showcase these 100+ fran-tastic brands that went above and beyond. Congrats to this year’s Game Changers!”

The full list of the top 100 “Game Changers” can be found in the December issue of Franchise Dictionary Magazine.

To learn more about ComForCare franchising, visit www.comforcare.com/franchising.