Hello! My name is Sang Nguyen. I oversee the daily operations of Fedelta’s home care services. Ask me anything about home care assistance for your loved one or family member!

I know you may be a little biased, but when would you recommend an assisted living place instead of home care?

It's been an ongoing discussion with my grandpa, so I'd love some insights!

Hi, u/TootsMcTooter. Thank you for your question.

I would recommend assisted living (ALF) for clients who are unable to remain in their homes safely and relatively independently as well as for someone who has a budget or preference on how much they would like to spend on services. In addition, if someone lives alone but cannot drive or cook for themselves, an ALF would be a good option for access to meals, facility transports as needed, etc.

With home care, some clients only need a few hours a week while some require around the clock one on one 24-hour coverage (which can get pretty expensive). An assisted living facility could provide general 24-hour oversight that may not be one on one but would be a great place for someone to maintain their independence to a certain extent and remain safe with all the amenities such as meal prep, community activities/outings, and transport as needed. If your grandpa is a social person and enjoys making friends and engaging in activities, an ALF would be a great option for him. In addition, we do have quite a few clients who are in ALFs that hire our home care/caregivers to come and support them in various ways such as providing companionship, supervision, personal care needs, etc. so there is also a mix of both as an option, if needed. Thank you!

What are some questions you should ask a professional caregiver before hiring them?

Hi, u/Aromatic-Mark-6182! Thank you for your question!

During the interview process, it would helpful to ask if the caregiver has any specialty experience that would make them stand-out such as if they specialize or have experience working with dementia and Alzheimer's clients, hospice, behavioral health, or prior experience working in a facility setting, etc. This will be helpful for when you work to place your caregivers with home care clients so that it can be a seamless and appropriate match. Thank you!

What happens when the money runs out? Do they kick the person out?

Hi u/thereallysososantini!

Thank you for your question. At Fedelta Home Care, we work diligently to ensure that our clients receive high quality care from start to finish. One of the reasons that our clients come to us is because we have a Home Care Supervisor to oversee day to day operations within the home and then they report back to me to assist with triage of any issues or concerns.

If a client runs out of money or is starting to run low on their resources, we generally try to work with them to see if it would be safe to reduce hours to help them maximize the use of their funds. However, if they require more care than what they can afford, we try and refer them to alternative home care agencies or see if there are any family resources that could assist them. We also explore options of assisted living, adult family homes and nursing facilities to see if that would be a better fit financially and for their safety and well-being. Overall, we try to be as transparent as possible with our clients at the beginning of initiating care and figure out how sustainable their schedule will be. If we are truly unable to provide services, we provide as much of a formal notice as possible and continue to work our best to come up with solutions for our client.

What softwares do you use daily and what are the pros and cons?

Hi, u/LOLfred_! Thank you for your question.

We use a system called Clear Care on a daily basis. Overall, it is a powerful tool/software that helps us with daily operations of home care such as being the primary platform for us to review client information, scheduling, contacting and finding caregivers to place on shifts with various clients, generate reports, and more. The only thing that I think that it could improve on is the mobile version of the website and the phone application. I would also like to see them advance the electronic health records aspect of the website a bit more in the future. Thank you!

How are home health workers with your company paid, as contract workers or as employees? And how much do they earn?

Hi, u/felicityrc. Thank you for joining the conversation.

Most of our caregivers in home care are employees of Fedelta Home Care. There are some instances where we contract our works but this is typically done in our nursing department. For home care, caregivers are required to be licensed as Home Care Aid/Attendant (HCA) or Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and they are paid a range of between $18-$25 depending on the client needs as well as the length of shift. We are currently working hard with our operations teams to standardize our caregiver rates across the board but this is currently how we are paying our home care staff. Thank you!

I just found out the weekday live in care aides in my moms care home do not have health insurance. That’s so depressing, these people are fillipino, here on green cards and send $$ back home every month yet they can’t afford health care here.

Is this standard for the US?

Hi, u/gmmiller! I am sorry to hear that. Health care insurance can definitely get expensive. At Fedelta Home Care, we do offer employee-priced health care insurance to our employees who choose to use and have coverage through our company. In the U.S., there are also alternative options but it may be limited if employees are in the U.S. on a work visa or on temporary terms. Coverage does vary for those who are on work visas. I am not well versed on insurance coverage for these types of employees but I am aware that we do offer insurance to full-time employees. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for joining the conversation. I hope you all have a great day.