Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease)
June 20, 2009 - CAHSAH is the leading advocate for high quality in home senior care services in California, and has a tradition of public service dating back to 1966. The new CAHSAH Certification Program will help consumers make better choices in a largely unregulated industry where anyone can offer in home senior health care services without specific training and certification. All home health care organizations are encouraged to participate in the CAHSAH program.
CAHSAH-certified agencies must submit proof of that they do all of the following:
§ Have General and Professional Liability Insurance coverage
§ Have Workers’ Compensation Insurance coverage
§ Have Crime / Employee Dishonesty Bond coverage
§ Perform Pre-employment Background Clearance on all Home Care Aides
§ Perform Pre-employment Tuberculosis Screening of all Home Care Aides
§ Provide a signed Service Agreement including a specification of fees before service begins
Good Company goes above and beyond CAHSAH’s certification standards, with a highly selective recruiting and screening process developed by a management team who share more 50 years of staffing experience. Fewer than 1 in 15 applicants are hired as Good Company in home senior caregivers. Extensive background checks, DMV driving record checks, interviews and reference verifications are standard.
Managers also invest a lot of time matching each senior with the right caregiver. Good Company is a full-service non-medical senior health care agency dedicated to helping seniors live safer and healthier lives in their own homes. For a few hours a day or around-the-clock, Good Company caregivers help seniors with daily tasks and activities, driving to appointments and errands, preparing healthy meals, bathing and grooming. They provide companionship and activities, helping elderly clients stay alert and engaged in life. In some cases, Good Company works in conjunction with hospice care providers, helping with end-of-life care.
Many of Good Company’s caregivers are Certified Medical Assistants and all are highly knowledgeable about the needs of frail seniors, Alzheimer’s/dementia patients and the needs of those recovering from surgery, cancer, stroke and other ailments. Caregivers continue receiving education and training while they work for Good Company, to ensure they can always provide the best possible care.
While Good Company’s caregivers are not medical providers, they do make sure their elderly clients don’t skip medications, and drive them to medical appointments. They maintain calendars and make sure medical follow-up care instructions are carried out, communicating frequently so that adult children know everything about their elderly parents’ health issues and needs.
“We are proud to be a CAHSAH-certified agency,” said Jack C. Merrick, Good Company’s co-executive director. “Having a statewide certification system is very important in an industry that people rely upon for the safety and health of their most vulnerable loved ones. We encourage all senior care agencies to join CAHSAH and complete the certification process.”
CAHSAH Certification and the effort to establish verifiable standards for non-medical in-home care will help ensure the future of the home care industry stays strong.
“For many families, home care is an important alternative to assisted living facilities and nursing homes,” Merrick noted. “Many seniors are anxious to avoid nursing homes as long as possible, they want the comfort and security of their own homes. But many adult children are afraid for their parents safety living alone.”
Thanks to CAHSAH Certification, agencies like Good Company Senior Care can give consumers confidence and guidance in choosing trustworthy professional in-home care for their elderly parents and relatives.
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