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A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 M A C O N M A G A Z I N E | 67 Chris Sims, President (478) 394-4672 InterimHealthcare.com/Maconga/home What do you feel many Macon Magazine readers may not understand about home healthcare? Many professionals and much recent research point to the fact that home may be the best place for health care for an increasing number of patients. Not only can care be less expensive in the home, evidence suggests that home care can be crucial in achieving the best outcomes for many people who return home after having been hospitalized. These studies show that home care interventions can improve quality of care and reduce hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations due to chronic illnesses or conditions. The Joint Commission's Home Care Program continues to support further research in this area, but the statistics are impressive already. Home healthcare can prevent common causes of readmissions such as medication errors, falls and even patient motivation to get better, said Wayne Murphy, associate director of The Joint Commission's Home Care Program. How can home healthcare be beneficial for those in the sandwich generation who are trying to care for their parents at the same time they still have children at home? At Interim Healthcare we make sure our caregivers are trained to focus on the individual needs of each of our patients. Our caregivers take care of your parents as if they were family, making sure they eat well, take medicine and stay as involved as possible in their normal daily lives and routines. We customize our service and attention based on your parents' requirements, including mental health issues such as dementia. That means you can be sure your parents will be getting the full concentration of our caregivers. In nursing homes and hospitals, patients have to wait their turns. With a good home caregiver, that isn't the case at all. We go out of our way to make sure our patients feel cared for and important. Obviously, parents feel more comfortable in their own homes. They won't feel as much like they are giving up all of their freedom and independence. Research shows being treated in their own homes can improve physical and mental health of all patients, regardless of age. Never underestimate those facts for your own parents and, also, how that can positively affect your own mental health and stress levels. Our services allow children to remain children and not have to become caregivers.