senior care

In honor of Alzheimer’s and Brain Health Awareness Month, Interim HealthCare is committed to helping family caregivers navigate the complexities of dementia patient needs.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home care, senior care, home health and hospice and healthcare staffing services, today launched a free Dementia Caregiver’s Guide to provide valuable insight, resources and advice to those caring for a loved one living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

The prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is rapidly growing in the United States. Currently, there are an estimated 5.6 million people living with age-based dementias and nearly 16 million people caring for them in the U.S. Meanwhile, the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease alone is expected to nearly triple by 2050, as the overall population continues to age.

“We hope that our Dementia Caregiver’s Guide will offer support for the countless family members who tirelessly give their empathy, time and resources to care for loved ones facing memory care diseases,” said Jennifer Sheets, Interim HealthCare Inc. president and CEO. “During Alzheimer’s and Brain Health Awareness Month and throughout the year, Interim HealthCare is committed to supporting the well-being of family members and our patients, while delivering comprehensive and compassionate care for cognitive conditions in the home.”

The Interim HealthCare Dementia Caregiver’s Guide was developed in partnership with Teepa Snow, one of the world’s leading educators on dementia and the founder of the Positive Approach® to Care (PAC™). This resource provides information for recognizing the signs and stages of dementia, and how to provide positive care to a loved one following the proven Teepa Snow PAC methodology. The guide was designed to help family caregivers:

• Gain the specialized knowledge needed to care for loved ones with dementia.
• Understand how dementia can affect themselves and their family member.
• Learn practical steps to navigate the progressing stages of dementia, and how to manage their role as a caregiver.

In addition to providing this new family caregiving resource, Interim HealthCare offers a specialized patient-centered Cognitive Care Program with a focus on dementia. Utilizing a science-backed approach to dementia care, Interim HealthCare’s clinicians are specifically trained to better understand how a patient’s brain is changing at each stage of disease progression and how to respond with safe, comfortable and meaningful home care.

This specialized Cognitive Care program is also a part of the Interim HealthCare’s HomeLife Enrichment® signature standard of care, that encompasses the mind, body, spirit and family, to improve the overall health and wellbeing of its patients and those around them.

“I applaud Interim HealthCare’s commitment to meeting the specific needs of those living with dementia by using the Positive Approach to Care,” said Teepa Snow, founder of the PAC and a dementia care expert. “The company’s new guide will provide family caregivers with dementia knowledge, resources and tips to support their loved one, and to care for themselves as the stress of caregiving can really take a toll.”

Download the free Dementia Caregiver’s Guide here, and learn more about Interim HealthCare’s Cognitive Care Program here.

Interim HealthCare executives and owners reflect on their life-changing moments as nurses; company launches history of Florence Nightingale remote learning lesson plan for K-5 children.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home care, senior care, home health and hospice and healthcare staffing services, announced today the launch of “The Year of Us,” a campaign to unify messages of support and gratitude toward the nation’s nurses, including employees of Interim HealthCare and especially those fighting on the front line against COVID-19.

In times of immense gratitude for nurses nationwide, the campaign celebrates and marks National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2020. To honor the legacy of Florence Nightingale, Interim HealthCare has also launched a remote learning mini lesson plan for parents and educators to leverage with school-aged children.

Interim HealthCare believes the indelible influence left by Florence Nightingale is now timelier than ever as she envisioned the future of healthcare being at home. A trailblazer in the nursing profession, Florence Nightingale’s work set the standards for modern nursing by campaigning for better public health practices, including innovative hygiene, safety and social distancing techniques. She believed in leveraging data and statistics to advocate and advance the science of nursing and helped promote the importance of supplies and what would later include items considered personal protective equipment (PPE). In 1870, Florence Nightingale was quoted saying, “It will take 150 years for the world to see the kind of nursing I envision.” – and here we are, living amid a global pandemic where her vision has become reality.

“As healthcare’s brightest guiding lights, we celebrate the work of nurses throughout the ages and advocate for their profession and their safety on the job,” said Jennifer Sheets, Interim HealthCare Inc. president and CEO. “When patients look into the eyes of a nurse, they often seek comfort, a spark of hope. It is in those exchanges, the hands held and the tears shed, that bring them back to their jobs every day. As a nurse, I know what it is like to have these moments, and they are my motivation to do the best for the healthcare industry to this very day.”

To celebrate the launch of “The Year of Us,” Interim HealthCare is asking nurses, “What’s your #FloMent?” – the defining moment in a nursing career inspired by Florence Nightingale, a time when their career embodied the character, convictions and vision that made Florence Nightingale extraordinary. As a leader in home care services, Interim HealthCare is proud to have a leadership team with more former nurses than any other franchise or home healthcare team across the country. Several of them reflect and share their #FloMents as a deep and heart-felt thank you for nurses, by nurses:

• Darlyn Baker, RN and owner of Interim HealthCare of Bakersfield: “My #FloMent was in 1993. Being a hospital bedside nurse was like a hobby for me. It never seemed like a job. When I realized patients were leaving sicker and quicker and needing to be cared for by their families, I knew I could make a difference. I didn’t know a thing about home health care. I just knew that’s where I needed to be. That is why I established Interim HealthCare in Bakersfield.”
• Jane Hinton, RN, CFE and Chief Clinical Officer at Interim HealthCare Inc.: “My #FloMent is tied to learning and growing and taking on a leadership role in nursing. That’s what Florence Nightingale embodied—she was a nursing leader. Throughout my career, I’ve looked to her as the model for what leadership in nursing should be and I’ve tried to emulate it through nursing education, leadership and advocacy.”
• Sharon Collins, RN, CHPN and Chief Operating Officer of Interim HealthCare of Oklahoma City: “My #FloMent was in a local store, believe it or not. A woman whose father I had cared for recognized me, walked right up to me and hugged me. I sat with her father as he passed away, about five or six years prior. We proceeded to talk about her father, what he meant to her and how much the care meant to her family. As a nurse, I sat with many patients as they transitioned from this life to the next, and it was always special, always intimate. But, something in that moment made a lasting impression on her. It was a beautiful moment to know that something I did meant so much to her family. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is good.’ This is what I was supposed to do.”

Please join Interim HealthCare in expressing our collective gratitude and honoring the nurses who support our communities and the amazing contributions of nurses like Florence Nightingale have given the world. Nurses across the healthcare system are invited to define a moment in their nursing career that was inspired by Florence Nightingale – a time when they were empowered as a nurse, or felt that drive to make a real difference in healthcare using the social media hashtag #FloMent.

Among the many interactive activities planned for the week, nurses may also enter win multiple “The Year of Us” 2020 Nurses Week prizes including a care package with Hand & Stone gift cards for future spa treatments, sweet treats from Nothing Bundt Cakes as well as gear fit for nurses such as industry leading foot wear, a professional nursing bag and other equipment. Please visit www.2020ihcnursesweek.com to enter.

For parents and educators in need of engaging lessons for students (especially for those teaching remote learners), the team at Interim HealthCare developed a mini-lesson plan on the life, work and impact of Florence Nightingale. Her story, particularly relevant for those interested in science, math, and healthcare and for those who want to learn more about role model female leaders, is excellent content to integrate in this week or next week’s learning modules. Easy-to-do and manage-at-home activities include a short biography and video of Florence Nightingale, a discussion guide, ideas for scavenger hunts, games, coloring pages, and more. Materials will be available on the Interim HealthCare Nurses Week website.

For more information on Interim HealthCare’s celebration of Nurses Week, please visit www.2020ihcnursesweek.com.

Home healthcare leader prepares for surge in discharged COVID-19 patients seeking whole-person, individualized care at home.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home care, senior care, home health and hospice and healthcare staffing services, today announced the extension of its HomeLife Enrichment® signature standard of care to meet the comprehensive needs of COVID-19 patients at home, and to support families with educational tools and resources.

As a surge of COVID-19 patients are released from hospitals to recover at home, Interim HealthCare nurses, clinicians and caregivers are prepared to meet their comprehensive needs in the setting they prefer. Through its HomeLife Enrichment® signature standard of care, that encompasses the mind, body, spirit and family, Interim HealthCare strives to improve the overall health and wellbeing of its patients and those around them.

“The home is the safest place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to support continued patient recovery,” said Jennifer Sheets, Interim HealthCare Inc. president and CEO. “With this pandemic, the need to create customized, patient-centered care has never been more important. By working to help boost emotional health, mental acuity and involving the family in care plans for COVID-19 diagnosed individuals, patients benefit from improved wellbeing. We recognize that care is not just about treating a diagnosis and our goal is to heal the whole person inside and out. Our HomeLife Enrichment signature standard of care incorporates all the factors that can improve a person’s health.”

The Interim HealthCare COVID-19 HomeLife Enrichment signature standard of care combines the following areas and best practices to improve mental, emotional and physical health:

• Mind: Providing tools to educate caregivers and families on how to prevent the spread of and recognize the signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Leading with current recommendations and evolving CDC and local and state health department’s guidance.
• Body: From using personal protective equipment (PPE) to facilitating early COVID-19 screening and following best practices to prevent transmission for caregivers, patients and their families, home care clinicians are helping to flatten the curve. As researchers uncover post-recovery side-effects, the program will further evolve to support a full continuum of anticipated specialty areas, including respiratory, rehabilitation (including physical and occupational therapies) and other yet-to-be-determined therapies.
• Spirit: Maintaining an upbeat attitude has many health and recovery benefits. With such a socially isolating virus, by helping patients connect with loved ones virtually, listen to music, play recreational games or participate in artistic activities, caregivers can use an array of tools to increase mental acuity and emotional health in the recovery process.
• Family: For the best outcomes, family members are actively integrated into care plans. Interim HealthCare partners with the family at the center of its care model by sharing educational COVID-19 resources, maintaining communication, supporting emergency response, managing household functions, risk assessment and contingency planning.

As hospitals and emergency departments look for reliable ways to divert patients with less intense symptoms to avoid overcrowding, having an extended continuum of care in the home becomes incredibly valuable. By helping to transition COVID-19 patients that are ready or who could be monitored in the home, Interim HealthCare will use its HomeLife Enrichment signature standard of care to provide the comprehensive services needed to improve their overall health and wellbeing.

In addition to helping to prevent the spread and treating patients for COVID-19, all Interim HealthCare specialty programs, including cognitive care with a focus on dementia, diabetes, heart disease and chronic care fall under its HomeLife Enrichment signature standard of care offerings.

Caregivers are trained to find ways to empower patients at home, regardless of their age, health or disability. This whole-person standard of care helps people live safe and independently, while improving their dignity, purpose and self-worth.

For more information about the Interim HealthCare HomeLife Enrichment approach, visit: https://www.interimhealthcare.com/education-center/homelife-enrichment

Home healthcare leader closes gap in industry’s ability to source, negotiate and process orders for COVID-19 personal protective equipment.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home care, senior care, home health and hospice and healthcare staffing services, and its parent company, Caring Brands International (CBI), today launched a website to help the home care industry access critical personal protective equipment (PPE) inventory in the fight against COVID-19: https://www.ppeforhomecare.org/home/.

Since this public health crisis reached the United States, CBI and Interim HealthCare President and CEO, Jennifer Sheets, and her team have been integral in driving U.S.-based and international advocacy and task force gathering discussions to spotlight a huge gap in the industry’s ability to obtain and fulfill orders for PPE. Subsequently, the leadership at Interim HealthCare Inc., has been sourcing, vetting and negotiating critically needed PPE for the Interim HealthCare network of owners and operators. This fast action has allowed the home care master franchisor to keep pace with demand and manage its inventory over the last five weeks.

It is these efforts that led to the concept behind PPEforHomeCare.org. Among the core essentials of PPE being sourced are gloves, N95 masks, gowns, digital thermometers, infrared thermometers, and more.

“Our priority is always the health and safety of our clinicians, caregivers and the patients and families they serve. From the moment we understood the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential to prevent our collective ability to source supplies of PPE, we quickly mobilized,” said president and CEO, Jennifer Sheets. “Never wanting to increase burden on the healthcare ecosystem or hope for handouts or donations from the CDC and state governments or private fundraising, we assessed inventory and vetted reputable suppliers ourselves to find a solution. Now we are opening it up to others. For us this is mission-critical: without PPE we can’t ask our employees to be on the front line of this epidemic, just as we would never ask our armed forces to enter battle unprepared.”

As a commitment to banding together in this pandemic, the new PPE sourcing channel, now open to all those in home care, is a bold step in helping the world-wide home healthcare industry meet healthcare needs, wherever and however possible. By opening purchasing to other verified home care agencies that are struggling to find PPE, CBI can leverage bulk purchasing and greater buying power (and therefore optimal pricing) through higher volume orders.

Specific inventory includes disposable gowns, surgical masks, digital thermometers, hand sanitizer, latex cloves, nitrile gloves, vinyl gloves, KN95 respirator masks, and infrared thermometers. Inventory is available to representatives of verified home care agencies in the United States or abroad.

Caring Brands International is an organization comprised of three leading home healthcare brands across the globe including, Interim HealthCare in the United States, Bluebird Care in the United Kingdom and Ireland and Just Better Care in Australia.

Caring Brands International global home care companies will have first right to order. Owners, executives or operators of established home healthcare agencies must provide proof of establishment and agree that, should items be secured, they won’t resell or remarket supplies.

Reputable suppliers whose standards and inventory can be verified and that offer competitive pricing with reliable delivery, are invited to email support@ppeforhomecare.org to share currently available PPE and related items. Interest in helping with this important effort is greatly appreciated.

For more information on Interim HealthCare, please visit www.interimhealthcare.com.