Anticipating Changes in Senior Care for 2025

Anticipating Changes in Senior Care for 2025

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Ruby Mehta: Welcome to CareSmartZ360 OnAir, a Home CarePodcast and my name is RubyMehta.

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Ruby Mehta: Today’s guest is Steve Key, the master of Senior Care Transitions. When it feels like finding the right care option for your loved ones. It’s harder than solving a Rubik’s cube blindfolded.

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Ruby Mehta: Steve steps in with a plan, a guidebook, and a whole lot of heart

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Ruby Mehta: as the proud business owner ofCarePatrol Franchise Systems. He’s connecting families with assisted living, independent, living memory, care, and in-home care solutions. Steve doesn’t just toss out suggestions. He’s digging into care histories and ensuring every recommendation, checks all the boxes.

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Ruby Mehta: Think of him as the realty of senior care, a complete tour of the best options possible, but without the hefty price tag. So, get ready listeners. Steve Key is here to orchestrate a smooth and compassionate senior care journey, welcome to the Podcast Steve. How are you?

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Steve Key: Doing well.

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Ruby Mehta: Steve key.

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Steve Key: Yes, yes, no. Well, thank you so much.

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Steve Key: so yes, thank you for having me like, I said. I’m Steve Key, the owner, operator of CarePatrol and my franchise covers

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Steve Key: 2 locations that we have, and

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Steve Key: it’s throughout Gastonia, Hickory, Shelby

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Steve Key: for city area. Then it’s another territory that we have out in Asheville. So we cover pretty vast, I would say, the western part of Charlotte and the Piedmont areas.

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Ruby Mehta: Awesome, Steve. What inspired you to start CarePatrol Franchise Systems.

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Steve Key: Well, the vision of doing this came from really from my wife.

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Steve Key: We’re in this. Together we brought this purchase together. My, background comes from

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Steve Key: 20 plus years of district manager retail. And so my wife, she’s got the healthcare background

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Steve Key: and she’sdid some researching on placement agencies and everything like that. And as we start looking into it, she she’s the one that really got

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Steve Key: behind this. And then she told me about it, and then encouraged me to do it, and as of November 3rd 2023 is when I left my job and started doing the work as far as CarePatrol. But

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Steve Key: a lot of inspiration came from

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Steve Key: my dad in the past, like 5 years ago I lost my dad to dementia and

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Steve Key: my mom had to get placed into a facility I didn’t know I wasn’t understanding anything like that didn’t know what was going on. They were in Florida. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Steve Key: So as we looked into these things, we decided, looked at different couple couple of companies.

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Steve Key: we decided care patrol was the best fit

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Steve Key: for what it stands for, and their mission value and everything that it has.

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Ruby Mehta: Awesomeawesome so we

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Ruby Mehta: it’sit’s the holiday season already. We’re in December. So how does care patrol offer assistance to older adults who face care challenges. During this holiday season.

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Steve Key: Well, what we do 1st is we do assessments with all the families 1st to get a personalization with the families to understand what their true needs are. Then, as we assess them, the next thing we’re going to do is we’re going to want to take them

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Steve Key: on the tours with them and engage them with the communities of where there’s potentially might be going, and we take them to at least 3 of them, so they can feel comfortable with the one that they want to go with.

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Steve Key: and this, as you said before, what we do is we review the the State and violation Board surveys to ensure that they’re going to the safest place. One of the things that we always do is ask what proximity location they want to go to, first, st because we don’t want to waste the family’s time, especially during the holiday season

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Steve Key: and next thing we want to know what’swhat’s their budget. So we’re not put trying to place them in something that’s not in their theirbudget. Or if it’s anything like that, and mainly doing this during the holiday times.

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Steve Key: It could happen today, or it can happen in 2 weeks or 4 weeks. It’s up to them.

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Steve Key: You know they they are the ones that will tell me how soon they are looking to get placed. And you know, during the holiday times, is.

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Steve Key: it still needs where Mom might be needing more care. Or Dad may have a phone still may need to go in. Some kind of care.

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Ruby Mehta: Okay? And

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Ruby Mehta: also, it’s really important for seniors to engage in some activities or stay active or stay connected within their community. How do you support them? Or what’s your take on that? What activities are suitable for seniors so they can engage to stay active and connected with their communities.

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Steve Key: There’s several different activities, you know, a lot of seniors.

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Steve Key: it’s not something that when they’re in the communities that they’re telling them they have to do, but they have things like gardening, which is very good. They have book clubs.

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Steve Key: They do a lot of field trips.

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Steve Key: One of the field trips that they like. Is this in this area is called Haverty’s

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Steve Key: and not have these but hammock. And we call that the Disney world for seniors, because they go. There’s a bunch of craft stuff, and they love going there. You look at the Activities board, and that

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Steve Key: that list is always filled, and that’s what I’m telling the families they have those kind of things. They have thethe book club. Also, there’s things as far as like church sessions that they’re doing if they want to sing, there’s singing groups.

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Steve Key: it’s always activities. And that’s what I tell the families is

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Steve Key: this is the opportunity for Mom or dad to go to an environment where like-minded people.

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Steve Key: and it gives them a chance for them to thrive more so they can enjoy their golden years. So doing those things. When I’m talking to them, I show them the activities what’s going on. But as I’m doing the assessment. First, stI’m asking, what’s Mom or dad’s hobbies or interests? You know what they did in their past, so we can make sure. So when I’ve already went to the communities. I can say there’s some similarities, and it helps with the families, make their decisions as well.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, no, it’s really important for for them to stay connected with communities and engaged in activities that they really love.

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Ruby Mehta: That really is beneficial.

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Steve Key: Yes, it is.

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Ruby Mehta: So what approaches do you and your team take to explore additional care? Options for seniors.

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Steve Key: Once again. We’re gonna do a an intake which is an assessment

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Steve Key: to find out all of their adls which is activity daily livings.

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Steve Key: We’regonna thoroughly find what’s going on there to ensure that it matches with the communities which we are placing them in to ensure that they’re going to the

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Steve Key: safest place the 1st time, because when I work with social workers, one thing we guarantee them is we don’t want to give them a discharge which is not good.

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Steve Key: and to the social workers, because it’s a lot of

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Steve Key: lot of confusion. Also a lot of paperwork that you shouldn’t have to do so. We want to make sure we’re doing the most thorough intake. And as we do the intake, we’re doing that assessment to get all of their activities of daily living. Also, just as far as families, you know, making sure the families are okay with these things and finding out that, hey? This place may not

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Steve Key: be able to take Mom because they don’t take oxygen tanks, you know something like that. So those are things that we need to know

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Steve Key: before we go, because when we bring them to the community, we’re letting that community know that, hey? We already

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Steve Key: pre-approved this resident, and they’re ready to move in

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Steve Key: pretty much on day one, because we did all of that, qualified.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah, no, that. That’sthat’s truly.

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Steve Key: Alrighty!

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Ruby Mehta: No.

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Steve Key: Sorry about that.

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Ruby Mehta: Okay. My final question for you, Steve. How do you address Caregiver Burnout during the holiday season?

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Steve Key: That’sthat’s a real good question.

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Steve Key: caregivers. 1st of all, I commend them for what they’re doing. Taking care of the loved ones, or even if they’re working in communities. But

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Steve Key: a lot of things that we want to do for caregiver Burnouts is what I suggest and what I always talk to them about is, 1st of all, let’s let’s get them some respite.

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Steve Key: Possibly during the holidays they can go to maybe we can have Mom or dad go to a community for respite, you know it gives them a break. It gives them that time so they can have that true alone time, so they can do something that they want to do and not feel like they are a burden to the family, or anything like that definitely

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Steve Key: having family members on fill in for the caregivers, you know, that’s really good, because sometimes families may not be able to afford to have mom or dad go to a place for a few days, you know some of the family members can step up and and give that caregiver some of that time off. So he or she can, you know, just get away, and you know, because

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Steve Key: it is very hard on them. And you know it’s just a proven fact. When, if you’re a solo caregiver

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Steve Key: working with someone with dementia, you know, you have a chance like 70, 75%

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Steve Key: of picking up symptoms of dementia because you’re taking on all of their behaviors. So we want to get them out definitely. What I always tell the caregivers is, you know.

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Steve Key: Hey? Let’s go to Starbucks or something.

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Steve Key: Let’s go this way so we can get your hair cut, or something like that. Let’s provide that respite. So respite is, is the most important thing.

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Steve Key: and giving them, especially during the holidays. It’s just showing us that caring approach.

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Ruby Mehta: Yeah 100%. I agree. I agree. Well, that’s a wrap. Thank you so much, Steve, for your time and expertise here and to our lovely audience. Thank you for tuning in.

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Steve Key: Thank you very much. Happy holidays.