By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or
[email protected] to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
*If I am consenting on behalf of someone else, I have the proper authorization to do so. By clicking Get My Results, you agree to our
Privacy Policy. You also consent to receive calls and texts, which may be autodialed, from us and our customer communities. Your consent is not a condition to using our service. Please visit our
Terms of Use. for information about our privacy practices.
Being trustworthy can help with some insecurities. Encouragement may help but make sure it's genuine, not just a pat on the head along with praise. Which leads to the next thing that can enhance someone's sense of security: genuineness on the part of the caregiver.
Treating someone with respect can enhance a sense of security. As can treating them like a human as opposed to a sick patient.
Try to be mindful of their privacy. By the time someone needs a caregiver they have probably been in the hospital at least once and hospitals aren't known for respecting a person's sense of modesty and privacy and dignity. A talented and empathetic caregiver can give these things back to their client. Sure, the client is used to being unclothed in front of staff, they've grown accustomed to it. But if you take the time to keep the client covered while you work with him/her they'll regain that sense of modesty and privacy they've lost from being a patient in a hospital. Even if they say it doesn't matter. Most home-health patients have concerns about their caregiver going above and beyond the call of duty. The client doesn't want to be any trouble. But throwing a towel over someone's lap while they're unclothed so you can apply medication or lotion is a sensitive and thoughtful gesture.
I once had a hospice patient who had been discharged from the hospital to rehab and finally home to hospice. My first day with him I wanted to give him a shower so I gathered up everything I'd need but I needed an extra towel to keep him covered while I used his bath towel to dry him off. I asked his wife where I could find an extra towel. She asked what it was for and I told her and she said something like, "Oh, you don't need to do that. He's used to it." Meaning that her husband was used to being naked with staff. And maybe he was used to it but I respected privacy and modesty in my work so I used the bath towel to keep him covered and used the hand towel to dry him off. It wasn't ideal but he got dry and he was covered which helped to keep him warm. I understood the wife's motivation--she didn't want to have any more laundry than she already had. But once she discovered what I was doing she provided an extra towel and the client began to talk more to me during his shower. Chit-chat, you know. But I think he felt more comfortable with my preserving his modesty and this opened him up which helped build trust and preserve dignity. And while I've never had a client who insisted on being naked during ADL's, I've had clients and families who have been grateful that I respected someone's privacy. It doesn't matter to me one way or another. I've seen so many naked people while working in hospice that it has no effect on me which is why I was very mindful of their feelings.
Nursing students are taught that the proper way to give a bed bath is keeping the body covered except for the part that is being washed but somewhere between that lesson and an elderly person laying naked on their bed while the nurse or caregiver is rummaging around for supplies that lesson gets lost.
There are many ways to contribute to someone's sense of security. Just look for them and you'll find ways.