Comfort Keepers
by Susan Shalhoub
Home is where the heart is, and for most seniors, it’s where they feel comfortable and can maintain their sense of identity and their treasured memories.
For the children of seniors who are beginning to need care and assistance, it’s difficult to know what to do. These grown children generally have their own families to care for – not to mention jobs. They want their parents to live at home but can’t give them the care and support they need to stay there. That’s when the in-home care provided by Comfort Keepers becomes essential.
Tony and Gina Brooks started the Oviedo branch of Comfort Keepers in 2011. Gina raised the couple’s children while Tony worked in management for a well-known Florida supermarket chain. He also served on the Florida Senior Games board of directors, and that eventually led to a career in the senior industry.
“Both Gina and I were looking to do something meaningful,” Tony says. “With Comfort Keepers, we found our calling.”
Trusted Assistance, Caring Companionship
Depending on clients’ needs, Comfort Keepers can provide home-cooked meals, light housekeeping, help with bathing and dressing, and transportation to appointments and shopping. Dementia and Alzheimer’s care is a specialty. Overnight or 24/7 live-in care is available, too. Comfort Keepers maintains a close partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs to help veterans more easily access benefits for their home care, and assistance is also available to help with the Medicare process, as well.
If and when hospice care is required, Comfort Keepers staff coordinates with hospice providers to create the best possible environment.
Comfort Keepers keeps trained, personal healthcare professionals on staff. They don’t hire third-party contractors.
“This makes it easier for us to be accountable,” says Tony.
Each healthcare professional is insured and bonded through Comfort Keepers. They also qualify for certain benefits, which improves retention and increases morale.
Comfort Keepers, which is usually referred to families by a physician or hospital, typically serves 60-100 clients at a time. If more skilled-nursing care is needed, such as insulin shots, Comfort Keepers partners with agencies to provide those services.
“Aging happens and happens quickly,” Tony says. “Mom fell and is forgetting things, for example, and families go into panic mode.”
That’s when Comfort Keepers can provide peace and stability. It empowers seniors to maintain happy independence, keeping them socially, mentally, and physically engaged with things like outings, card games, and walks outside.
“It’s important for people to know they are loved,” Tony says.