In today’s episode of Help Choose Home, we welcome Sara Wilson, president and CEO of Home Assist Health, Inc. A nonprofit organization which serves Arizona residents in greater Maricopa County, Home Assist Health, Inc. helps private pay and Medicaid clients pursue independent lifestyles in the comfort and familiarity of home.

An innovative leader in the home care industry, Sara is focused on modernizing home and community-based services to improve care experiences and health outcomes, and to reduce costs. Additionally, because of the anticipated labor shortage in home care, she seeks to access and prepare a new workforce that is interested in health and human service professions, for a career in the home care industry.

In this episode we discuss:

• Successfully navigating the pandemic in the home care industry
• How Home Assist Health, Inc. has supported the medical community during the pandemic
• The benefits of expanding the Medicaid service model
• Accessing a new workforce in order to keep up with anticipated staffing demands in the home care industry
• The myriad of tangible benefits of care at home

Below are some highlights from our conversation:

• [3:00] Sara explains the impact the pandemic has had on Home Assist Health, Inc.
• [3:20] Learn about the ways in which internal infrastructure has helped weather the uncertainty of the pandemic
• [4:25] Discover the challenges and innovative solutions used to ensure staffing demands are met
• [6:55] Sara explains how Home Assist Health, Inc. has supported the medical community during the pandemic
• [8:00] Sara details the benefits of expanding the Medicaid service model
• [10:30] Learn the potential roadblocks to Medicaid expansion and how these can be overcome
• [12:25] Sara explains how to prepare for the increased demands for home care services
• [14:00] Sara details the quantifiable evidence of the benefits of home care
• [15:00] Learn why open-mindedness is important
• [16:00] Discover how consumers can self-advocate when it comes to the desire to have care in the home

After listening to today’s episode, I think that like me, you’ll be inspired by the many possibilities that home care offers not only to help improve the lives of those who choose care at home, but also on the health care system and the wider community.

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

To learn more about aging in place and innovation in the home care model, listen to my interview with Joel Theisen, BSN, RN, chief executive officer and founder of Lifesprk. Joel discusses the many benefits of proactive, preventative long-term care at home for older adults and how this approach leads to a reduction in rehospitalizations and emergency room visits.

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.

Sponsors

The Help Choose Home podcast series is a collaborative effort by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), Axxess, and corecubed to educate the public about the many benefits of the in-home care industry, which includes non-medical home care, private duty nursing care, medical home health, hospice, and other in-home health and wellness services.

Access the full Help Choose Home podcast library.

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