In today’s episode of Help Choose Home, we welcome Steven Landers, MD, MPH, president and CEO of Visiting Nurse Association Health Group. With a history of bringing care to people for over 100 years, VNA Health Group is the largest nonprofit provider of community home health and hospice services in New Jersey. VNA Health Group also provides in-home care services in Ohio and southeast Florida.

A certified family physician and geriatrician, Dr. Landers brings a unique perspective to his role at VNA Health Group, particularly now, during the pandemic. Dr. Landers is passionate about providing access to high quality care at home, especially to the vulnerable elderly, and he has authored several articles on the role of home care in national medical journals.

In this episode we discuss:

• The status of the home care industry at this point in the pandemic
• Client safety and caregiver safety and training
• The ongoing demand for home care services in the future

Below are some highlights from our conversation:

• [3:15] Learn how the pandemic has impacted VNA Health Group
• [3:40] Dr. Landers shares a silver lining about the pandemic
• [4:09] Learn how patient care has changed over the course of the pandemic
• [5:54] Dr. Landers discusses how he has been humbled by the pandemic
• [7:10] Safety protocols are important to not only safeguard clients and families, but caregivers, too
• [8:05] Discover the steps VNA Health Group has implemented for high risk visits
• [8:43] Find out about VNA Health Group’s COVID testing and influenza vaccine push
• [10:40] Learn why the public trusts home care
• [14:10] Dr. Landers shares consumers can find in-home care after the pandemic vs. before the pandemic
• [15:10] Discover what will make home care run out of steam
• [16:08] Dr. Landers discusses what will make home can an attractive career choice going forward
• [17:02] Dr. Landers explains nursing school capacity and how this impacts home care
• [19:25] Learn how home care can contribute to nursing

After listening to today’s episode, I think that like me, you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the role home care is playing during the pandemic, as well as the role and challenges it will face in the future.

You can listen to today’s episode here, or on Apple Podcasts, Google,  YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you enjoyed today’s interview with Dr. Landers, I encourage you to listen to a previous episode of Help Choose Home where Dr. Landers discusses the important steps that seniors can take to remain independent and to age in place.

If this episode has been helpful, be sure to leave a five-star review and share the podcast with your friends to help us in the national effort to educate about home health care options! You can connect with me, Merrily Orsini, on Twitter@MerrilyO.