Building a Culture of Caring for the Caregivers

Home-based care is increasingly recognized as part of the solution to the rising cost of healthcare and improved outcomes for the growing senior and underserved populations. For companies in the business of in-home personal care, like Help at Home, success is directly tied to building and sustaining a commitment to a strong culture of caring for caregivers.

Bringing healthcare to homecare starts with the relationship between the caregiver and the client. And that relationship is nurtured by an engaged and supported caregiver. Caregivers are the backbone of Help at Home. Over 50,000 and counting, this important population makes up 95 percent of our workforce. They are the ones in the homes making the difference every day for clients. That is why we focus on creating an environment that recognizes their work, provides them with career growth opportunities and builds a sense of belonging. Because when they succeed, we all succeed.

Purpose

When we think about why people stay in a company, we know they seek purpose, support, and pathways for the future. Our caregivers are no exception to this. The purpose behind our work comes easy for us. Each day, caregivers find fulfillment in helping clients live with independence and dignity at home. They are actively connected to their purpose.

Support

It’s critically important to focus on the caregiver first and foremost in every business strategy we execute. Examples include building infrastructure and HR processes that remove friction and provide a simple, easy, and streamlined hiring process. We use technology that leverages artificial intelligence to handle administrative tasks so candidates can apply 24/7 and schedule interviews without waiting on us to check schedules.

Once we’ve onboarded them, we begin helping our caregivers build relationships by finding them good client matches and schedules that fit their needs. Forging strong relationships between caregivers and clients produces noticeably positive results for the health of our clients and caregivers – both physically and mentally. The right match strengthens their sense of belonging, community, and purpose.

As a result of our ongoing caregiver/client matching efforts, Help at Home caregivers spend on average 20 hours per week with each client and have an average four-year relationship tenure.

Help at Home also supports caregivers through our care coordination program that provides a “village” of support, i.e., a team that includes registered nurses, social workers, and community health workers who learn from caregiver observations in the home to understand how to best develop care plans designed to improve client health and well-being. The clinical support team can intervene when necessary to connect clients to care or resources. These joint efforts between the caregiver and clinical team boost morale, improve client outcomes, and foster an added sense of community and purpose.

Our support even extends beyond the home and into their communities. With over 190 branch locations, we have a unique opportunity to connect our caregivers back to their communities through engagement efforts and volunteerism. We can also help our caregivers in times of hardship with financial support from the Cares Fund. When we show our caregivers we care for them just as much as they care for our clients, they are more likely to stay with us and provide exceptional care to our clients.

Pathways

Chances are good you may discover a Help at Home branch employee’s career began in caregiving. Actively pursuing and building career pathways for caregivers is a part of our retention strategy. For some, caregiving is a lifelong career, and for that we are grateful and humbled. For others, caregiving is a stepping-stone into a clinical field or administrative role. Either way, we are creating learning and development opportunities to fit the varied needs of our caregivers.

We find outlets to actively recognize their achievements with award programs, points-based rewards in our online caregiver community and recognition on our social media channels and blog. We are incredibly proud of the work they do, and we want to make sure they know it.

To not only meet the growing demand for in-home care but to do it with quality client outcomes, we must focus on our culture of caring for the caregiver. The heart of Help at Home is our caregivers, and we will make every effort to ensure they are well cared for. Because when they succeed, we all succeed.