How to Combat Social Isolation with Companion Care ft. Josh Obeiter
Josh Obeiter, Executive Director and Owner of Seniors Helping Seniors in Boston, a non-medical home care agency shares his expertise on how to leverage companions to combat social isolation and enhance the quality of life for seniors. Discover how Seniors Helping Seniors employs retired individuals to provide compassionate, non-medical support to other seniors.
Key Points:
Innovative Care Model: Seniors Helping Seniors unique model of employing retired seniors to support other seniors
Effective Client-Caregiver Matching: Client care giver matching is crucial. Josh’s organization leverages a comprehensive assessment process to match clients with compatible caregivers
Strategies for Overcoming Resistance: Gain insights into gentle approaches and creative strategies, such as therapeutic fiblets (little white lies), to help clients accept and benefit from care
Episode Link: Spotify
Full Transcript
[00:00:04] Ariadne: Welcome to the CareCraft podcast today. We're super excited to have Josh Obeiter, who's the Executive Director and Owner of Seniors Helping Seniors, a non medical home care agency, providing companion and caregiver support to seniors. And Josh has over 20 years of experience volunteering with seniors and has been actively involved in various Boston organizations, really addressing senior care and combatting social isolation. So we're super excited to have him on and hear about his expertise in the space. How are you doing today, Josh?
[00:00:35] Josh: I'm great, Ariadne. Thanks so much for having me.
[00:00:38] Ariadne: I would love to learn more about your background or really share with our listeners how you ended up owning Seniors Helping Seniors.
[00:00:49] Josh: Yeah, well, great. So as you had mentioned I have over 20 years of experience kind of working and volunteering with seniors and the senior care industry and working with older adults is often fueled by people's passions and why I have a business degree and professional background. I really felt a genuine connection to older adults and that's started with close knit relationships with my grandparents and kind of evolved from there through volunteering at nursing homes and running intergenerational programs while I'm in college and really seeing kind of the whole landscape of what people's life was like when they were living whether it be in a independent living facility or a skilled nursing facility and really connected and you know, related to the experiences that people were going through.
[00:01:42] And through a lot of my volunteering experiences, I realized that a lot of people were completely isolated, even though they were living in a community setting. And a lot of people who are receiving care were still isolated, even if they had a one on one caregiver. And people really needed an outlet to share their stories and to connect in a purposeful way.
[00:02:07] And when I heard about Seniors Helping Seniors back in 2014, the model just completely resonated with me, because what people crave and need is that social connection and someone to hear their story and, and engage in a way that is meeting them at where they're at.
[00:02:25] And so care can be very transactional and that's, you know, important for certain people depending upon their needs, but a lot of people as they age. They just need an extra set of hands and the Seniors Helping Seniors model really worked because we're also employing people who are retired themselves, who have the time to give back the desire to give back.
[00:02:51] And often they've been a caregiver in an informal capacity for, you know, a loved one. So the model really connected with me, and I left the corporate world realizing that by, that, you know, if you follow your passion and you can apply some of your past experiences, melding those two together, often kind of helps to create something really exciting and, and, and worthwhile.
[00:03:15] And that was exactly what I did.
[00:03:17] Ariadne: That's awesome. And the model for listeners that might not be aware is seniors providing non medical care to other seniors. Is that correct?
[00:03:26] Josh: That's correct. Often the population that we serve is vulnerable. They're often cognitively impaired. So there's a lot of training that goes into doing this work well as well.
[00:03:39] Ariadne: I can imagine that training is super critical. So how does an individual or family get connected with a senior through your organization?
[00:03:49] Josh: Yeah, I mean, there's a variety of different channels in which people come to us. You know, we have a reputation now. So people are starting to understand our model in the community, but Aging Life Care Managers are a big part of our team. And the fact that they often refer their clients who could benefit from a companion like caregiver to us.
[00:04:14] So, they, they come through Aging Life Care Managers, and they get started with our client services team, who does in person assessment, a phone conversation, a comprehensive, collect comprehensive paperwork to kind of understand who the person is, was, so that we can make a match based on it personality, shared professional backgrounds, interests, hobbies, things of that nature.
[00:04:41] So we kind of take a holistic approach when we onboard a caregiver and onboard a client, really like to get to know them as individuals so that we can make a match that we feel like is not only going to be, you know, meeting people's needs in terms of location and types of service but really based on their common interests and shared backgrounds.
[00:05:03] So you know, we collect that information. However, people come to us, whether it be, you know, an online inquiry and Aging Life Care Manager or facility that recommends a companion to us.
[00:05:13] Ariadne: Yeah, that you bring up a great point that I wanted to bring up in the conversation, which is really that connection between the care managers and your organization and and how you've seen that relationship work well.
[00:05:27] Josh: It's truly a partnership. And, you know, Seniors Helping Seniors is a corporate partner for the Aging Life Care Association. We have been for the past several years. And that is because we truly value the work that Aging Life Care Managers do in the fact that they are able to go in and, and kind of serve as the guide for the family as a family navigates kind of a complex journey regardless of the condition of their loved one.
[00:05:59] If they come to an Aging Life Care Manager, they're often dealing with a new diagnosis. They're dealing with you know, perhaps family in distress. And so the Aging Life Care Manager, part of their responsibility is to kind of be that guide, that compass, that project manager for families, directing them to resources that can serve them to, to kind of ultimately serve the person, the elders needs, whether the elder is in the early stages of Alzheimer's and just needs that structure and supervision and support, or they may say that this person needs more kind of advanced level care.
[00:06:37] They're kind of a wealth of information. They have a wealth of resources at their disposal. So as they direct families, often when they come to seniors helping seniors, they know the profile of caregivers that we employ. So they can feel really confident that the type of service that we provide matches with their needs.
[00:06:58] Josh: It's a great partnership because there's a lot of open communication. The care managers, our staff and can be really transparent about the unique needs of the client that we're both going to be supporting.
[00:07:11] Ariadne: So how do you measure the impact of bringing in that companion or that caregiver support on you know, the patient outcomes or even just the satisfaction, right of the clients over time?
[00:07:24] Josh: I mean, there's a lot of different ways. So it could be from a very kind of pragmatic standpoint, we may be going into medication reminders and an Aging Life Care Manager may have gone in and, you know, kind of overhauled the way that they get their medications delivered. Maybe they, you know, now they're bubble packed or there's another kind of medication reminder system in place.
[00:07:46] That that we can go in and kind of ensure adherence to.
[00:07:50] Or similarly, if they're not eating meals regularly, often we find that people are forgetting to eat, so we can provide that structure and supervision so that maybe they're able to gain weight or they're able to you know, kind of get back to their baseline if they had been slipping.
[00:08:06] Also a lot of clients can come kind of in a very depressed state. They often are experiencing a loss. Maybe it's a loss of their independence. Maybe they recently lost their driving ability. So now they're all of a sudden reliant on others to to get around and to kind of go through their life.
[00:08:29] I think often people come to us kind of overwhelmed burden burnt out family caregivers, whether it's a spouse or adult child who lives with the person that they're caring for just, you know, the 4 to 6 hours a week of respite that we can provide to allow the family caregiver to go out and take care of themselves. is really important overall and extending that person's time at home.
[00:08:56] So I think, you know, all the kind of the common thread of these things that I'm talking about is introducing a companion caregiver at the right time and extend the person's time at home through giving family time to breathe and so that they're less burnt out, but also keeping them healthier and more engaged so that there's less of a need to, to place them in a facility.
[00:09:21] And on the other hand when we, when we are working with people who are living in facilities, we can kind of help the client maximize their day and ensure that they're benefiting from the engaging activities, so they don't self isolate and kind of become reclusive
[00:09:38] Ariadne: I would be curious to know your perspective for care managers that have families that are on the fence or clients maybe that are initially resistant to bringing in a companion. What are some approaches that you've seen work really well with the families or individuals that Seniors Helping Seniors has engaged?
[00:10:03] Josh: Yeah, so it's a great question. And we're often fraught with resistance. When we initially get started in helping somebody we're often, I like to say, kind of the first responders, you know, when it comes to caregiving in the fact that the people that we're employing are non traditional caregivers.
[00:10:22] So they're not CNAs or home health aides. So getting help a lot of people do not want to admit that they need help whether it be that they lack insight into their deficits, or whether it means that if I accept help now, it's the, the end of my independence for the rest of my life. So, it's, it's a very, very delicate matter, and it again, it's working with whoever is making their.
[00:10:47] So if the person themselves calls us, it's much easier, right? They, they know they need help. It can be, it's typically for very transactional needs. They're no longer cooking and they need help with meals, but more often than not, it's a family member or an Aging Life Care Manager that contacts us
[00:11:03] So there's a few things that we do. First, as long as it's appropriate to not kind of dive right in, we kind of take a gentle approach in terms of incorporating assistance, just, you know, one or two times a week for a few hours to just kind of dip our toe in the water so that people don't feel overwhelmed or feel like, you know, all of a sudden they have an intruder kind of in their life all the time.
[00:11:29] The other piece that we often do is we incorporate the usage of therapeutic fiblets or little white lies, which can be very helpful to kind of get our foot in the door with providing help and that little white liar therapeutic fiblet could be, you know, that we're volunteer who recently moved to the area, a neighbor who's looking to go on a walk with somebody. So it's often like a friend of a family member who we position ourselves as, or you know, how can can the potential client help us in the beginning. So it's a really kind of custom to the particular situation, depending upon what the need is.
[00:12:10] But that little white lie, that little therapeutic fiblet, often it's about something that the person will accept. So if they want to be the helper themselves, then we can go in and have them provide a meal to us, for example, so that they're feeling like they're not, you know, all of a sudden having a caregiver in the home.
[00:12:29] So it's, it's really circumstantial, but kind of whatever creative outlet that we have we use, especially in the beginning. And then over time they become more comfortable with person as long as it's a compatible match.
[00:12:43] Ariadne: Yeah, it feels very much like a matchmaking process to find someone that kind of meets the needs, but also fits the personality of the situation.
[00:12:53] What is the typical, is it normally they'll meet a couple companions before you can find one that works really well, or how does that process usually play out?
[00:13:04] Josh: Yeah, so we kind of have two kind of teams here at Seniors Helping Seniors. We have our client services team and then our human resources team.
[00:13:15] This team, and they're, they're both kind of working concurrently. The human resources team, when they do their hiring, they're really kind of getting a sense of the caregiver, their background, their interests. And we, we have bios for all of our 200 plus companion caregivers that work for us. And similarly, we're really getting to know our clients through phone intakes paperwork, and then in person assessment.
[00:13:37] So. If that's really the where the matchmaking process happens in the office, and then it's a facilitated introduction in the beginning, hopefully, you know, it's successful, but if it's not, for whatever reason, we certainly can go back to the drawing board and introduce somebody else. But the reality is, is that We kind of find ourselves in doing a good job the first time because we know that there's not often a second time or a second chance to have it go well.
[00:14:06] So you know, depending upon the urgency, depending upon the needs of the particular case. We try to be really thoughtful about it. So it's a successful first introduction. And it seems to go better from everyone's perspective that way. And then over time, as we, as care needs increase, or the person becomes more receptive to the idea of having help, then we can introduce people a little bit more easily.
[00:14:32] But we usually try and find a good first match. That sets things off on the right foot.
[00:14:41] Ariadne: That makes perfect sense. And how can listeners connect with you or learn more about seniors helping seniors?
[00:14:48] Josh: Yeah, so they can, you know, first and foremost, they, you know, if they're in the Boston area, they can go to shsboston.com. If they're not in the Boston area, as you mentioned, we are part of a national franchise, seniorshelpingseniors. com, you can find your most local office. And you know, that's, that's the best way to kind of get started. And then from there there's phone numbers and emails and contact forms for people to initiate the process.
[00:15:19] Ariadne: Incredible. And as a last question, do you have final thoughts or advice for care managers looking to optimize their use of companions and community resources?
[00:15:30] Josh: The non medical home care arena is, is vast in terms of the types of agencies that are out there. And I think it's, it's because Aging Life Care Manager really get to know the clients that they're serving and kind of their, their needs and their receptiveness to getting help.
[00:15:50] It's just, it's just thinking about, okay, what, what kind of tool in my tool belt. What agency who I have a relationship with, or who I trust and connect with can best support this client. And again, for Seniors Helping Seniors because of our model, the people who are resistant to help the people who are in the early stages of needing help or the people who really we need to be very mindful of protecting their dignity and not having a traditional caregiver because they're going to push that person out the door, which happens all the time, then an older worker type of a profile of a candidate is going to make sense.
[00:16:31] So just really understanding, you know, your local agencies and the types of caregivers that are going to fit with the client's needs, and be most successful for not only the client, but their family and that person's overall well being.
[00:16:45] Ariadne: Really being able to tailor that to each particular individual and their family is the benefit that hiring an Aging Life Care Manager really brings to the table.
[00:16:56] So thank you so much for your time today, Josh. It was great having you on and really appreciate it.
[00:17:01] Josh: Thank you so much.