klaus
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Oct 9, 2008, 10:40 AM
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Up to now there have been few alternatives in available elder care in Canada. Relatively healthy seniors could opt for a seniors’ residence providing meals and some level of nursing care, while those requiring a higher level of care were relegated to a government-funded long term care (LTC) facility. Often the outcome of life in such a facility is less than ideal.
There are literally thousands of stories of Canadian seniors suffering abuse and neglect at the hands of government regulated long-term care workers. Despite the fact that governments are pumping millions of additional dollars into the funding of long-term care facilities, very few manage to measure up to the minimum standards, while many fall far below.
Now there is an alternative to the institutionalization of seniors. It’s called Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. Founded by Jim Scott, a former social worker living in Mississauga, Ontario, Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. takes a novel approach to seniors.
“You’ve heard of foster care for kids.” Scott says, “Serenity Care for Seniors applies the same principles to caring for seniors. We engage foster families to take one or two seniors into their homes to become a part of that family, which means that seniors who opt for this type of care plan will live in a family environment, rather than an institutional environment.”
While the company is currently in its start-up phase, Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. already has over 70 families signed up to provide foster care for seniors.
“Initially we are focusing on southern Ontario,” Scott says, “but eventually we plan to take this concept world wide, as older people will eventually outnumber younger people in most of the developed world.”
Scott is careful not to be critical of long-term care providers. “Long-term care facilities provide an important and valuable resource to seniors,” he says. “We see Serenity Care for Seniors as merely one other alternative to the institutional model. Clearly institutional living isn’t for everyone and those seniors who are seeking out alternatives can look at our company as a possibility.”
Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. provides careful screening and an intense training program to its fostering families, or Professional Care Associates, as the company prefers to call them, having trademarked that name. The initial training period is a fairly intense program lasting about a week which is augmented by ongoing professional development and monthly cluster groups where in-service training and seminars cover subjects as diverse as the psychological aspects of aging, nutrition, fitness and ethics.
“We are very careful about selecting our Professional Care Associates,” Scott states. “We do a thorough check of all applicants and look at their motivation very carefully.”
Motivation plays a large part in the selection of Serenity Care for Seniors’ caregivers. “If you’re doing this for any reason other than that you truly care about seniors, we aren’t really interested in having you work with us,” Scott says. That’s because those who are fostering seniors in their homes certainly aren’t doing it for the money. The fees charged are modest, somewhat less than what a long-term care facility charges per month and the Canada Revenue Agency considers it a taxable benefit. Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. is lobbying government to have the tax laws amended so that fostering seniors does not impose an onerous tax burden.
It’s always encouraging to see new and innovative alternatives popping up in the market place. Serenity Care for Seniors Inc. is a fairly attractive alternative, given the growth in the number of seniors that will require residential care in the very near future.
Klaus Rohrich is President and Creative Director of Taylor/Rohrich Associates Inc., a marketing and advertising firm that specializes in niche marketing retirement real estate developments
http://www.maturitymarketing.com.
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