The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Dexterous helping hands
Caregivers respond to a wide variety of family care needs/scenarios, as Beachwood franchise illustrates
When Eric Malkin opened his Homewatch CareGivers of Beachwood in 2006, it was in response to seeing the life disruptions his family experienced while caring for his aunt after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
“When my mother could no longer care for her sister, my cousin had to leave his job and come back to Ohio from Houston to care for his mom,” he recalled.
Malkin soon switched gears from his financialanalysis career to begin the franchised home health care agency based in Beachwood. The location has allowed him to serve more than 1,000 families in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties since then.
He quickly learned that attracting and keeping good staff was essential because having the same caregiver from one week to the next is important to clients. The home health care business typically serves 50 to 60 families at a time, helping out families for as few as a couple of days to several years.
“Ohio requires no licensing, so it’s a matter of finding those with the right skill sets and matching them with families who need their help,” he said.
“It’s nonmedical but highly intensive personal home care, so personality is the primary reason that a caregiver will work out.”
Every plan is unique, he said, but seniors are the core of his client base.
“We provide homemaking services, personal care, companionship and transportation services that allow seniors to stay safely and comfortably in their own homes for longer,” he said.
That service is designed for families who observe their loved ones being independent but slowing down and needing assistance that family members are not always able to provide. Typical jobs include changing of bedding, doing laundry, and management of medication, he said.
Lauren Bahr hired Homewatch CareGivers of Beachwood to help out with her dad, Frank Daniels, and his wife when they were still at their home in Kirtland.
“His wife needed more care than he did, and he was trying to do everything,” Bahr recalled. “So we had someone come in and, at first, help with things like cooking and housekeeping.”
Then her dad, a longtime piano performer and co-owner of Daniels Fuel in Willoughby, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and the couple’s needs became greater.
“We had two long-term caregivers who came in several times a week to care for them. They became like family,” she recalled. “I would spend as much time as I could with them, but I lived 45 minutes away.”
She fondly remembers arriving one day to find her dad playing the piano, which his caregivers had encouraged.
“The caregiver was singing along as he played,” she said. “Dad always loved his music, and it kept him going. It was really sweet.”
Eventually, the Daniels couple had to move to a nursing home, and, earlier this year, both died.
Playing cards with clients and other forms of companionship are a large part of what caregivers do, Malkin said.
But in addition to seniors, Malkin’s company serves clients with disabilities, even finding them employment opportunities such as bagging groceries.
“We often place them with Giant Eagle because (the company has) demonstrated a willingness to hire individuals with disabilities,” he said. “Once we place them, they need a job coach to make sure they have success with the work.”
The company promotes from within, so it trains its own job coaches.
“We also offer a nursing service to families, so we have a register nurse on staff as director of nursing,” he said. State-tested nursing assistants, who are qualified to work in nursing homes, also are hired for that part of the business.
“Eighty percent of the families we work with have loved ones with some kind of impairment, often dementia,” he said.
Hourly rates are based on the needs of the client, but range from $18 to $24 an hour, he said.
“We don’t require a service agreement and bill only after the services are rendered,” he said.
Some families require caregivers for only a few days while a loved one is recovering from surgery, while others, like Behr, have caregivers see loved ones through several health transitions.
“We’ve even had clients take their caregivers along so their loved one can attend a family wedding out of state,” said Malkin.
“Every situation is different.”
“We provide homemaking services, personal care, companionship and transportation services that allow seniors to stay safely and comfortably in their own homes for longer.” — Eric Malkin