By Scott Thoma
One of the most difficult things about aging for some people is having to leave the home they love because they are not able to take care of themselves due to health or injury.
Adara Home Health realizes how arduous these times can be for seniors and are available to assist them in any way they can so that they can remain in their home.
“Our mission is to assist people to age in place,” said Bobbie Crocker, the customer relations manager of Adara Home Health of Granite Falls and Hutchinson. “We want to help them stay in their own private home, senior apartment or assisted living facility, safely and as long as possible.”
If an individual requires additional care in order to remain in their home, it can become stressful for a spouse or caregiver.
“Oftentimes, the caregiver or spouse benefit from home care as much as the individual receiving the care,” Crocker said. “We want to do whatever we can to make it easier for everyone involved.”
Adara Home Health began in 1989 and provided personal care attendant services to disabled individuals. In 1996, Adara Home Health evolved into a Medicare-certified home care agency that offered a broad range of services to individuals of all ages; from newborns to seniors.
On Nov. 1, 1998, Ken and Judy Figge acquired Adara Home Health and between them have over 50 years of experience in home care. Adara Home Health is not a franchise, as many home care agencies are today. It is a family-owned and managed home care agency. While the Figges remain very active in the operation of Adara Home Health, their children, Lori Seeman, RN, and Austin Figge, RN, oversee the daily operations. Lori is chief executive officer, and Austin is the vice president of business systems.
They are joined by Cathy Nielson, RN, vice president/compliance officer; Ashley Maiers, RN, director of operations; and Jeff Meyer, MPT, OCS, vice president of therapy.
Adara Home Health moved to its location from Marshall to Granite Falls in order to be more centrally located within the community they serve. The Granite Falls location also serves Lake Benton, Marshall, Montevideo, Pipestone, Redwood Falls, Slayton, Tracy, Windom, Worthington and their surrounding communities. The Granite Falls office is overseen by Andrea Anderson, RN, general manager.
The corporate office of Adara Home Health is located in Buffalo, Minn. Other branch offices besides Granite Falls are located in Blaine, Hutchinson, Mankato, Mendota Heights, Rochester and St. Cloud/St. Joseph. In all, eight locations serve 60 of the 87 counties in the state, and currently have over 3,500 active clients.
“When calling or to make a referral or update on a hospital patient, the staff is friendly and welcoming over the phone,” said Denise S., an area licensed social worker/accredited case manager (LSW/ACM). “The Adara staff provides the information the hospital needs for continuity of care for the shared patient. Overall, Adara is friendly, knowledgeable, flexible, and caring.”
Margaret, 94, resides in an assisted living facility within the Adara Home Health area and recently suffered a fall. She became an inpatient at a transitional care unit with pain in both of her knees. She was then referred to Adara Home Health for physical therapy to help her increase her balance and strength to reduce her risk of falling again.
Margaret said that she had two goals: to walk a certain distance by herself and to be able to go out with family and friends.
Prior to working with Adara Home Health physical therapist, Margaret needed assistance getting out of her chair, as well as needing help to walk. After about eight weeks of physical therapy with Adara Home Health that included stretching and strengthening, she reached both of her goals.
Recuperating from an illness or injury previously means extended stays in hospitals, nursing homes or rehabilitation centers for individuals. With Adara Home Health, a client can recuperate in the comfort of their own home with high quality health care provided by a skilled health care professional, whether it’s temporary or for an extended period.
Adara Home Health Services:
Skilled nursing - This includes intermittent visits and private duty nursing, infusion and enteral therapy, education and management of a specific disease to reduce hospital readmissions, medication management, wound care, pediatric care and pain management.
Therapies (physical, speech and occupational) - This includes gait and strength training, home safety evaluation, adaptive equipment training, balance improvement, speech and language evaluations.
Home Health Aide - This includes intermittent visits and extended hours, personal care, live-in and sleepover, and medication reminders.
Personal Assistance/Homemaker/Companion - This includes housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry, companionship and socialization.
Clinically developed programs - These are designed to improve the quality of life for those living with heart failure, lung disease, COPD, diabetes, and many more conditions.
“We have had the opportunity to refer many of our short-stay patients to Adara Home Health for in-home therapy services on discharge to home,” said Pat O., RN. “This has provided our patients with a smooth transition of care that allows them to continue to progress through their rehabilitation and recovery at home.”
Adara Home Health realizes the importance of qualified aides and ensures that they all have appropriate experience and skills. Registered nurse case managers also make periodic supervisory visits to homes to monitor a client’s care.
Dianne K. is another client who has had a positive experience working with Adara Home Health following physical and occupational therapy after undergoing knee replacement surgery.
“(Adara Home Health) was so wonderful,” Dianne said. “I was able to improve as much as I did because of them. They motivated me and made it easy.”
After working with Adara Home Health physical and occupational therapists and adapting their exercise plan, Dianne surprised her physician with her progress a month later.
“My doctor told me he was surprised at my range of motion and told me that most people aren’t at the point I was,” she recalls. “It was because the therapists motivated me and made it seem easy.”
Adara health aides are required to work with supervision from a registered nurse or therapist under the direction of a client’s physician. Each caregiver and health professional is recruited, screened, tested, and trained by Adara Home Health to ensure that they meet the company’s personal and professional standards and, most importantly, meet the client’s approval.
Tasks performed by Adara Home Health aides include:
• Personal care such as bathing, grooming, oral hygiene, shaving, hair/skin/nail care, and dressing.
• Walking, transfers and bowel/bladder support.
• Meal planning, as well as preparation and support with eating.
• Foot care.
• Assistance with medication.
• Assistance with bone exercise programs, including range of motion.
Adara Home Health also realizes the value of a client’s comfort level with a particular home health aide. They carefully plan in order to match the right person for each client.
“Adara Home Health is a Medicare-certified home care agency,” Crocker said. “If a client qualifies and certain criteria are met, services may be paid by Medicare.”
Medicare requires the person to be “homebound,” meaning they require assistance to leave his/her home. This includes the use of a wheelchair or walker, needing special transportation, or getting help from another person.
A client may qualify for home health if they have had any of the following:
• Medication changes.
• New diagnosis.
• Two or more falls in the past year.
• A wound that is not healing properly.
• Decrease in function in activities of daily living.
• Multiple or recent hospitalizations.
• Decreased range of motion.
• Frequent emergency room visits or clinic appointments.
“I have worked in partnership with Adara Home Health for several years,” said Karen E., RN. “Their professional yet caring attitude makes the process go smoothly. Many of our residents who discharge to home need a dependable and reliable home care agency to follow them to help ensure a smooth and safe transition and Adara Home Health provides just that. We feel better knowing our residents will continue to be well cared for when they return to their home.”
Those interested can listen to “Airtime with Adara,” a podcast that connects listeners to local and neighboring health care resources throughout central and southern Minnesota. That podcast can be found on Apple, Buzzsprout, Itunes, iheartradio, Audible and Spotify. People can also find “Airtime with Adara” and the Adara branches in Granite Falls and Hutchinson on their Facebook pages.
Adara Home Health is located at 761 Prentice Street in Granite Falls. For more information and an initial consultation/RN assessment at no charge, call 1-888-525-7742 or 507-532-2264, or visit www.adarahomehealth.com.
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