Kate McLean Homecare has been providing specialised in-home care for over 20 years and are experts at helping your whānau navigate their changing day-to-day life.
They have a fruitful partnership with AgeWell Physiotherapy, which boasts 15 years’ clinical experience and offers in-home therapies for over 60s. Verve sits down with Aimee McLean, general manager of Kate McLean Homecare, and AgeWell Physiotherapy director and senior physiotherapist, Marina German.
Tell us about Kate McLean Homecare and your carers?
Aimee: We have been in Auckland since 2002, providing private homecare services. Our carers are our biggest asset – we look for skilled, compassionate carers who relate well to people. We are finding an increased need for skilled dementia-level and complex-level carers, as more people prefer a home environment over an aged-care facility.
How do you match clients with caregivers, and what kinds of tasks can they carry out?
A: Carers are matched based on experience and personality, as it’s important clients enjoy their time with their carer. Continuity of care is important, allowing strong working relationships while alleviating any anxiety about having multiple carers through their house. Broadly speaking, our carers assist with everything from showering and dressing assistance, meal preparation, outings and companionship, through to medication supervision, and dementia-level care and palliative care, based on indivdual care plans created by our care manager. Our carers will also help support physiotherapy exercises and work regularly with AgeWell Physiotherapy.
How important is staying mobile as we age and how does your in-home service encourage this?
Marina: Staying mobile is essential to function well and to live independently for longer. We provide in-home tailored treatment and self-management exercise programmes specific to our clients’ needs and goals.
What are some common issues people turn to your physiotherapy treatments for?
M: Strengthening, balance training, falls prevention, mobility, and gait retraining, post operative recovery, and rehabilitation. Many of our clients want to continue living at home safely and be guided by our physiotherapists with a regular ongoing treatment plan. We work regularly with Kate McLean Homecare where their caregivers help our clients work towards great goals.
What kind of services do you provide at AgeWell Physiotherapy?
M: In-home assessment, treatment and rehabilitation following surgery or injury, balance, dizziness, preventing falls, targeted functional strength work, treating and preventing frailty, management of chronic conditions, pain and neurological physiotherapy. We see excellent results in strength, function and energy levels. We receive overwhelming positive feedback about our physiotherapists and the benefits it makes to our clients’ lives.
At what point do you recommend considering in-home care?
A: If you’re finding daily tasks, such as showering, dressing and meal preparation difficult. Also signs of short-term memory loss is often when people start to reach out, because of safety concerns of their family member. Older people need to talk to their families early on about what they’d like to do once they can no longer live without some form of in-home support, and plan accordingly.
Visit katemcleanhomecare.co.nz and agewellphysio.co.nz to get the help you need.
