Episode 44 – Care from the Heart: What Makes Sunshine In-Home Care Different
Team Senior Podcast
[INTRO]
Jamie: Hi, this is Jamie Callahan with the Team Senior Podcast. Our goal is to simplify aging. Society grooms us to plan for retirement, but what about life beyond retirement — where the rubber meets the road? Perhaps you’ve had a stroke, or you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, or maybe you’re forgetting things and now you have dementia. That’s our area of expertise, and we are here to share our insight.
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Jamie: Hi, this is Jamie and we are in the studio today with Kimberly Cardenas. I am very excited to learn about her new caregiving business that she has started here in southern Oregon. It’s not brand new — it’s been around for a while — but I do know that they’re doing some amazing things. Kimberly, tell us a little bit about you and Sunshine In-Home Care.
Kimberly: Well, I actually started in the caregiving industry when I was in high school — I was 15. So, you know, I’ve always had the drive to want to be able to help others. And Rona is the owner of Sunshine, and she started Sunshine kind of the same way. She had a client who used to call her “her sunshine,” so that’s how Sunshine In-Home Care actually got its name. And then I met Rona and we’ve just kind of grown together with our business in the valley. We both just — our daily joy is being able to provide care to others.
Jamie: I love that. I really love when businesses start because it’s based on a previous experience that you’ve had, and maybe you want to do better than what you’ve seen other companies do, or you’re just really motivated to do it because it comes from your heart.
Kimberly: Yes, definitely.
Jamie: I love that. So talk to us a little bit about what makes Sunshine In-Home Care different than other caregiving agencies.
Kimberly: We think what sets us apart from other caregiving agencies is that we actually think of our company as family. It’s not just a business. We’re all involved with the caregiving. I still go out and do caregiving, you know, as needed when I’m available. And we take pride in knowing that our caregivers are here to provide care. It’s not just a job to them — you know, they’re doing this because they’re like us. This is what they love to do, and they work with their heart. Not just, “Oh, I’m here to make a living.”
Jamie: It definitely makes all of the difference. So I want to jump around a little bit, but one thing I really want to know is: what are the most common challenges that you see seniors facing when trying to stay in their home as they age?
Kimberly: The most challenging I see is the financial aspect of being able to stay in their home — and can they actually find somebody that can be there for them with what they really need.
Jamie: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the financial piece of it is huge, especially when you look at 24/7 caregiving at home — it’s now upwards of $20,000 a month. It’s crazy.
Kimberly: Yeah.
Jamie: It’s very crazy. For those families that want to do it, we really encourage them to, just because I think we all — as we age, and God knows we’re all aging — when we visualize what that looks like, we visualize aging surrounded by all the things that we have created, right? A safe space, kind of a sanctuary of our own. We want to stay at home.
Kimberly: Yeah, definitely. Being at home — that’s my goal. I hope my kids keep me at home, but, you know, we’ll see.
Jamie: No kidding. So I know that you guys offer a wide variety of services — it’s not just the typical caregiving that some agencies provide. You offer 24/7 support, Alzheimer’s support, post-surgery care. Tell us more about those things.
Kimberly: We are there to basically do what it is you think you need. I mean, of course we’re going to go in and do our assessment and, you know, kind of say, “Okay, well, we’ve noticed this too — do you want to add that?” If you just want somebody to come in and watch a movie with you, that’s something we do.
Jamie: Companionship.
Kimberly: Sure, yeah. That’s the biggest thing, you know. We find that a lot of our seniors don’t have family local anymore, and we’re the ones that go in and they get to spend their time with us. Housekeeping — you know, they want to stay in their home, but they’re not as agile as they have been, so they really can’t do a lot of the housekeeping. Grocery shopping — you just need somebody to go to the grocery store. You know, we do everything, and even through to end-of-life care — that’s part of our services. We work with the hospice agencies as well.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s really important for folks to know. Because I think there’s a common misconception with hospice — that when you have hospice, they’re going to be there with you all the time. They’re not. You still really need the support of a caregiver if the family’s not going to be enough.
Kimberly: Yeah, most definitely.
Jamie: So what role do caregivers from Sunshine play beyond physical assistance? You’ve talked a little bit about companionship, emotional support, maybe building some trust, going to the grocery store — what am I missing?
Kimberly: I mean, really, it’s building a friendship with somebody, you know? That is kind of our goal — to always have your regular caregiver with you, unless they’re sick or on vacation. You’re building that friendship, that relationship with that person. It’s kind of like building a family member.
Jamie: That’s really important to note. And it is actually one of the reasons we don’t have many caregiving agencies come on the podcast. But something that I’ve heard regarding Sunshine on a regular basis is that one thing families really dislike is when they have 10 or 20 different caregivers in one month. I do know that Sunshine has tried really hard to introduce you to your caregiver, and that caregiver builds a bond — a trusting relationship. So I love that about you guys.
Kimberly: Thank you, yeah. We do what we call a “warm handoff.” You know, that first time you meet your caregiver, we’re there — we introduce you, show you around, and kind of make it a little more comfortable. Because they know our faces from the assessments and care plan reviews, and meeting somebody new is one of the struggles they have. Especially, you know — you are letting somebody you don’t know come into your home.
Jamie: Sure, absolutely. So how do you train your caregivers? I would imagine, just based on the services that I know you provide, if you hire a caregiver from a different agency, they might be a little bit surprised about the way that you guys do things.
Kimberly: Yes. So we are very involved with our training. We do online training, but we also have training in the office. I try not to feel like I’m overloading you with training, but I want to make sure you understand what it is you’re going into. Especially if it’s somebody who’s never done this before — I want them to know, “Okay, this could potentially be something you’re walking into, so let’s talk about it.”
Jamie: So what is your approach to oversight, supervision, and quality assurance?
Kimberly: So we actually have an array of office staff. We have our supervisor, who is in charge of maintaining supervision of our caregivers. We have our care advocate, who is in charge of maintaining the supervision of our clients. And then we have our scheduler — she’s in charge of making sure we’re putting the right person with that client. I mean, potentially sometimes it doesn’t work the first time, but nine times out of ten, we do pretty good at that match.
Jamie: That’s a really good average. What happens — because this is a complaint that we hear all the time. In fact, if we had a number one complaint that we hear about caregiving agencies, this is it: they either showed up hours late, or they were a no-show. How do you deal with that?
Kimberly: So I like to think that we do pretty good at not having our caregivers show up hours late. We do have a clock-in and clock-out system, so if you are 13 minutes late and you haven’t clocked in, it will send us a message and we actually reach out to our caregivers — “Hey, what’s going on? Where are you?” You know, something like that. And if we don’t get a response, we call the client right away and say, “Hey, we’re working on getting somebody else out there. It might not be your regular start time, but we will make sure we get somebody out there for you, because we don’t want you to go without your services.”
Jamie: Yeah, that’s so important. So you mentioned earlier that you guys can help take folks to the grocery store — but what about other things, like the doctor, therapist, hospital, community agencies? Can you help with transportation in general?
Kimberly: Yes.
Jamie: So you are covered insurance-wise for your caregivers to be able to do that?
Kimberly: We are, yes.
Jamie: Okay, I love that. What are some things that your caregivers cannot do?
Kimberly: So, I mean, really — unless you are delegated by our nurse in regards to medications, you couldn’t manage the medications. I mean, our license is kind of — we pretty much do everything that they could possibly do. We have forms in case they need to go to the bank for the client. Receipts are brought back from the store if the caregivers go.
Jamie: Let’s talk about delegations for a minute. So when you talk about managing some of these medications, are you talking about a medi-planner, or are you talking about someone getting delegated to administer insulin — or both?
Kimberly: Both.
Jamie: Okay.
Kimberly: Yeah, so it just kind of depends on what the client needs. We have our nurse who is in charge of oversight of the medication services. So it just kind of depends. The medication, the medi-sets, the boxes — we can set them up weekly, monthly, however people want. If they don’t want a med box and they need help administering, of course our caregivers go through the training — they go through the review with the nurse to make sure that they can daily administer those medications. And then we do have the delegation available if they are diabetic. And the number one reason why they can’t do their own insulin is neuropathy in their hands.
Jamie: I was going to say that. I bet.
Kimberly: Yeah.
Jamie: I’m sure. Alright. So how does somebody go about hiring Sunshine? What is your average hourly rate and minimums?
Kimberly: So our minimum is a three-hour minimum per shift. We currently don’t have a daily minimum or a weekly minimum — it’s just the three hours per shift. And our rate is $38 an hour flat rate.
Jamie: Oh my gosh, I’m so excited to hear that. That’s incredible. So listeners, you should know that caregiving prior to COVID was like $25 an hour. Post-COVID, I don’t know what happened — it just instantly exploded to $40, $45. I know caregiving agencies that are charging $50 an hour, especially if the acuity of care is higher. So having a caregiving agency that is charging $38 an hour is phenomenal.
Kimberly: Yeah, and that includes everything. We don’t increase because you need medication management, or you need weekends, or anything like that.
Jamie: It’s flat. This is incredible. Kimberly, I’m so happy that you’re here today because the world needs to know that they can get caregiving for $38 an hour — it doesn’t exist with other agencies. So that’s amazing. What about insurance? Do you guys take insurance?
Kimberly: So the only insurance we take would be long-term care insurance, or if you have Medicaid.
Jamie: Okay — and you take Medicaid?
Kimberly: Yes.
Jamie: So you have long-term care insurance and you have a Medicaid contract?
Kimberly: Correct.
Jamie: You cannot serve the veteran population — is that correct?
Kimberly: No, we do have a VA contract as well.
Jamie: Okay. So if somebody is a veteran and they can utilize HHA hours — yes, you can do that?
Kimberly: Correct.
Jamie: So you can do it all.
Kimberly: Yeah.
Jamie: Oh my gosh, that’s amazing — I didn’t know that. Okay, wow. Well, I want to say thank you so much for being here today. I feel like I learned a lot. I feel like our listeners not only learned a lot, but they’re going to really benefit from the services that you’re providing. Do you have anything else that you want to share?
Kimberly: I mean, yeah — we actually just opened our third office. We have our Josephine County office, our Jackson County office, and we now have an office in Curry County in Brookings.
Jamie: Oh my gosh, that’s fabulous. Okay, so then of course I have to ask — because I serve two other areas that you’re not currently in — when are you opening in Roseburg and in Klamath?
Kimberly: I will have to talk to Rona and see what we can do.
Jamie: Yeah, so those are the two areas — well, we serve five areas — but yeah, there’s not a lot of options in Klamath and in Roseburg. So we would love to see you guys there.
Kimberly: Yeah, definitely.
Jamie: Especially since you serve all the different insurance types, et cetera.
Kimberly: Yes, yeah. That’s what is making it really nice. So yeah, we’re trying to get to the areas that don’t have a lot of coverage, but there’s a significant need for it.
Jamie: That’s awesome. I’m loving hearing that. Okay, so if somebody wanted to get in touch with you because they want to hire Sunshine In-Home Care, how do they reach you?
Kimberly: They can call any of our offices. We have the Grants Pass office: (541) 659-0862. And we have our Medford office: (541) 500-1197.
Jamie: Okay, so you heard her, folks. You can reach the Grants Pass office at (541) 659-0862, or you can reach the Medford office at (541) 500-1197. Thank you, Kimberly, for being here. I really appreciate it.
Kimberly: No, thank you, Jamie, for having us.
Jamie: You got it.
[OUTRO]
Thank you for listening to the Team Senior Podcast. We’re here every week sharing new and relevant information. Remember that we’re just a phone call away. Team Senior can be reached at (541) 295-8230. Again, (541) 295-8230. Until next time, this is Jamie Callahan.
