helping hands - pandemic

When Andrew Tyler joined Helping Hands Home Care in July, he brought with him over 25 years of experience in social service and senior care, including two years as a director of one of the country’s most prominent senior care agencies. 

Tyler wanted to apply the lessons he learned working for national organizations to a regional senior care agency like Helping Hands, which has 11 agencies in different cities throughout Oregon. 

Those lessons were simple: communicate clearly, adapt quickly and follow through. 

They’re crucial ideas in an industry that places tremendous value on empathetic relationships between clients and caregivers, and in an age when seniors are at serious risk from Covid-19. 

“We’re very upfront with our communication,” Tyler said. “We’ll keep you informed every step of the way.” 

In-home care providers often overpromise and underdeliver, Tyler said. It’s an industry pitfall he’s keen to avoid. If Tyler doesn’t feel confident that Helping Hands can fully meet a prospective client’s care requirements, he’s happy to partner with other agencies to provide full care, or even recommend a different local agency that can. 

That level of consideration pervades every aspect of the Helping Hands experience. 

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, the company expanded their established safety protocols to protect both its clients and employees. Caregivers must pass pre-shift health screenings and administer the same screenings to their clients before each visit. Caregivers utilize personal protective equipment provided by Helping Hands, such as CDC-approved masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and gowns, whenever they enter a client’s home or interact in-person with their clients. 

Caregivers administer an array of important services to their clients, such as light housekeeping, meal prep, personal care, transportation, errands, and medication administration, including RN-delegated tasks. They also give family members much-needed relief from the often difficult work of caring for their loved ones, and peace of mind for families who don’t live close enough to personally check in on their loved ones regularly.

“We’re providing respite care for the other family members,” Tyler said. “We’re coming in there to be able to give the family member a three-hour break to relax and know that their loved one is being completely taken care of.” 

Helping Hands caregivers must pass state-mandated training, as well Helping Hands’ own in-house training, in order to be eligible to work for the company. But Tyler also tries to discern whether prospective candidates have a genuine passion for working with seniors. If they do, they’ll encounter a rewarding career.  

“What sets us apart are our caregivers,” Tyler said. “This company’s mission has always been to provide world class care. We do this by having the highest quality, best-trained caregivers and nursing and support team.”

That mission translates into lower costs for Helping Hands customers, many of whom are on Medicaid, which the company does accept.

But while Helping Hands pays a premium for the best caregivers, that cost doesn’t get passed to the clients … that’s just part of the high standards of the Helping Hands experience. 

Clear communication with clients and attentive caregivers are two core elements of what Helping Hands offers, but a new commitment to following through on world-class service is what Tyler hopes will carry the company into the future. 

“We want to enhance the Helping Hands experience for all of our clients and caregivers by ensuring that we always communicate openly and to realistically promise and overdeliver in the services we provide,” Tyler said. 

Just give Helping Hands a call today. You will hear and feel the difference immediately.

For more information on how Helping Hands can benefit you or a loved one, please visit helpinghandshomecare.com or call 541-241-1950.