By Corey Emory
As one of the world’s largest nonmedical companionship and nonmedical home care services, Home Instead Senior Care brings friendship, restores hope, gives joy and “helps with the day-to-day chores” for the elderly.
“Our caregivers provide one-on-one support and interaction that reduce feelings of isolation and depression, and are able to encourage activities that stimulate thinking and promote physical well-being,” said Scott Dingfield, marketing manager for Home Instead. And that’s a good thing, because according to a 1999 report by the National Vital Statistics, 18.8 percent of all suicides are senior citizens.
However, suicide intervention is not the main goal of Home Instead Senior Care; prevention is the watchword. Although it offers a multitude of services, ranging from transportation to light cleaning duties, Home Instead primarily focuses on combating depression, decreasing injuries, and even confronting substance abuse.
Bob Cunningham, a Bay Area Home Instead franchise owner covering Belmont to Los Altos, said older adults deal mostly with loneliness and injuries. “They’re coming from a hospital and they’ve been injured and are alone,” he said, “and a lot of times just don’t have anybody to chitchat with, you know; a lot of their friends have died.”
“I would think that kind of one-on-one human contact could only help me through the day and provide me with someone to talk to and lean on, … someone who would just be a friend and provide companionship. There are many, many examples of family members who have contacted our offices to inform us of the dramatic change they have seen in their loved one as a result of enlisting our services,” Dingfield said. That’s exactly what Home Instead Senior Care does.
Paul and Lori Hogan founded Home Instead Senior Care in Omaha, Neb. in 1994 after they recognized the need for affordable, strictly nonmedical companionship and home-helper care for the elderly. The company began franchising in 1995. Today, Home Instead is available through 340 offices in 43 states.
More information about Home Instead Senior Care can be found by searching for an office locally through the white pages, or by visiting the company’s Web site at www.homeinstead.com.
