Health & Wellness Sponsors

Popularity of home health care rising
BRAD BUCK Staff Writer

As Florida's population continues to age, the need for home health care in Central Florida. Home health-care agencies try to keep the client comfortable at home so they can avoid going to either a nursing home or an assisted living facility as long as possible. Mary Lou Wieloszynski, president and owner of Granny Nannies in Clermont, said there are different types of home health agencies. Some are Medicare agencies. They do physical therapy, wound care, intravenous care and more medical care, she said.

Agencies such as Granny Nannies and Comfort Keepers provide custodial services. Those include bathing, changing clothes, laundry, some light housekeeping and cooking meals, Wieloszynski said.

"We're non-skilled,"she said. "That keeps prices more economical. If you're (a Medicare agency), you charge for the Medicare reimbursement." In addition to the unskilled workers, Granny Nannies employs certified nurse assistants as home health aides, she said.

Wieloszynski said she has worked with the elderly for 24 years.

In that time, she has seen the need for caregivers grow as baby boomers age. "Everybody's competing for the same population," Wieloszynski said."As our population continues to age and seniors live longer, there's a greater need for people wanting help at home as opposed tog going to a facility.

"As they're aging, they're waiting until they're a little more frail, so the need for professional caregivers in the home is delayed,"Wieloszynski said. Families are more diverse, too,she said.Seniors may not have their children around to help them.

"With all the children working, some families are unable to care for their parents,"she said. Granny Nannies charges from $12 to $18 an hour, she said.

Rose Folan, general man- ager for the Clermont branch of Comfort Keepers, said her company prepares meals, does some housekeeping and runs errands such as taking clients to doctors' appointments or recreation. "We provide respite for family members,"Folan said. Although her staff is unskilled, "We like to think the highest level is that they have a good caring heart. There are not enough qualified people who are willing to do this.This requires a great deal of personal sacrifice."