To make a real difference in the senior home care community in San Diego, it’s important to have a deep understanding of the community’s unique needs and a commitment to providing personalized, compassionate care.
Success hinges on building strong relationships with both clients and caregivers. For a home care agency or franchise to stand out, fostering caregiver satisfaction is crucial, ensuring they feel supported and valued through comprehensive training, career growth opportunities, and flexible working arrangements.
This support translates into better care for seniors, creating a positive cycle of trust and loyalty. Further, embracing emerging trends, such as integrating healthcare data sharing and implementing wearable technology, allows agencies to stay ahead of the curve and offer proactive, holistic care.
Close collaboration with local healthcare providers, senior centers, and organizations helps create a network of support for seniors, enhancing their well-being.
In a city as diverse as San Diego, tailoring care to the cultural, social, and emotional needs of each senior is key to transforming home care, ensuring families receive the compassionate, individualized support they seek for their loved ones.
To shed some light on the same, we interviewed a home care industry expert to bring her perspective on transforming senior home care in San Diego.
Who Did We Interview?
Joscelyn and her husband Sam Van Valzah started A Place At Home to help seniors thrive at home during their golden years. They’re on a mission to create a care experience that they’d want for their grandparents.
They do this by offering non-medical in-home care, care coordination, senior living advisement, and staffing solutions. But it doesn’t stop there—they’re equally dedicated to creating jobs for caregivers who make this work possible.
Let us now delve into what she has to say about transforming senior home care in San Diego:
Stepping into the senior home care industry felt natural for us. I’ve always been passionate about serving others, and it really clicked during my time as a healthcare administrator, working closely with the senior community.
I loved finding solutions that made a real difference in people’s lives, improving their quality of life in tangible ways. My spouse’s background is in financial planning, where he spent over a decade helping people plan for retirement.
That experience reinforced the importance of confidence and comfort as people transition through different phases of life.
Together, we realized we had complementary strengths and shared values, and we built this agency around those core principles—empathy, honesty, and a true commitment to well-being. We wanted to create something we’d trust for our grandparents, and that’s been our driving force from day one.
We’ve always believed that great care starts with happy caregivers, and that’s shaped our approach.
We’ve put together a strong training program that supports our caregivers and gives them a clear path to grow. We’ve developed career tracks so they can move into roles like Operations Manager or Community Liaison. We love promoting from within because we know our caregivers are often the best fit for those growth opportunities.
On top of that, we do a lot to keep our caregivers engaged and connected—not just with us, but with their families, too. We run back-to-school supply events for our caregivers with children, holiday gift events, wellness and career workshops, and even family BBQs.
As working parents with a child, we understand the importance of support and community, so we aim to create a warm, inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and connected.
We also offer flexible hours and daily or weekly pay options so our team has more control over their schedules. By ensuring they’re supported both at work and home, we’ve built a team that feels valued—that makes all the difference when it comes to delivering the best care for our seniors.
The home care industry is changing fast, and we’re always looking for new trends to keep us ahead. One exciting trend we’ve implemented since Day 1 is the connection between non-medical home care providers and healthcare systems. It’s all about offering more continuity of care and improving our seniors’ well-being.
We’ve been measuring outcomes and changes in the condition of our clients, and we make sure to share this data with the healthcare team. For example, if one of our seniors is starting a new medication and we notice a side effect, we will immediately contact their family, the respective healthcare provider, and note the details.
This way, everyone is on the same page, and we can work together to provide the best support possible. We’re also excited about the partnerships forming between skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, and healthcare systems. It’s all about coming together to ensure our seniors get the compassionate, attentive care they truly deserve.
Wearables and smart home technology are super exciting, too. Devices that monitor heart rates, detect falls or track daily activities are giving families peace of mind and helping us stay proactive in care.
It’s amazing how these small innovations can make such a big difference in keeping seniors independent and safe. We are looking to bring some of these technologies to our seniors in 2025.
We’re also noticing a shift towards more personalized care. Families don’t want cookie-cutter solutions—they want care that fits their loved ones’ unique needs, especially with conditions like Alzheimer’s or dementia. We’ve always been about flexibility, and this trend aligns with our approach of tailoring care to each person.
In a diverse community like San Diego, we know that every client is unique. That’s why we start with a thorough assessment to get to know each senior’s physical, emotional, and social needs.
We dive into their daily routines, medical conditions, personal preferences, and any language factors that are important to them. This helps us create a detailed care plan tailored just for them.
We also believe adaptability is important. Our caregivers are trained to give regular updates, so we can track how things are going and reassess the care plan as new info comes in.
Keeping everyone in the loop—like our partners at skilled nursing facilities, social workers, and hospitals—is key to providing great care. We’re not just a senior sitting company; we like to think of ourselves as an impact-driven team. We track and measure outcomes to make sure we’re making a real difference for our seniors.
Building relationships in San Diego has been one of the most rewarding parts of our journey. We’ve focused on connecting with local senior centers and healthcare providers to introduce our services, but it’s all about becoming part of the community.
We love attending local events, collaborating with community leaders, and networking with other home care agencies and industry professionals.
For example, we recently attended the Home Care Champions Experience here in San Diego, which was a fantastic chance to meet fellow thought leaders and share ideas.
We’re also aligning with the North San Diego Business Chamber to connect with other local businesses. Plus, we’re working closely with organizations like the Home Care Association of America- SoCal Chapter, Alzheimer’s Association- SD Chapter, the San Diego Regional Home Care Council, and the VFW of San Diego.
Partnering with Serving Seniors has also been a great way to give back directly to the senior community. By diving into these local networking opportunities, we’re not just another business—we’re here to build real, lasting relationships.
We believe that these connections help us provide even better care and truly make a difference in people’s lives.
Joscelyn Perez’s vision for transforming senior home care in San Diego is centered on creating a personalized, compassionate experience for seniors and a supportive, growth-oriented environment for caregivers.
Her commitment to building strong community relationships and integrating new healthcare technologies is helping her franchise stay ahead in a competitive market. By fostering partnerships with healthcare providers, senior organizations, and local businesses, Joscelyn has positioned A Place At Home as a key player in the region.
This approach not only improves care outcomes but also strengthens community ties, setting a new standard for home care in San Diego.
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