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Another home health agency has opened in DeLand, this one with a slightly different focus than its competition.
Husband-and-wife owners Kurt Collis and Rosalei Olazar say their outlet for Right at Home Home Care and Assistance will concentrate on providing care to younger adults rather than the elders that form the bulk of most agencies’ client rosters.
“We’re going to be taking care of all ages — pregnant moms needing help because they’re on bed rest, adults with autism, or people needing rehab after surgery, as well as seniors,” Collis said.
“We can provide anything a client needs, like driving them home after outpatient surgery and making sure they’re OK, or staying overnight if they need us to,” Olazar added. “There are lots of ways we can help people.”
Right at Home’s caregivers can provide short-term or 24/7 assistance with meal preparation, keeping track of medicine usage or light housekeeping. They can also help with some personal care, such as bathing, toileting or transferring between bed and wheelchair.
Right at Home does not use contract workers as home health aides (HHAs) or certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Instead, all in-home caregivers are Right at Home employees, and on-staff nurses will give CNAs whatever training they need to get HHA licenses.
And all caregivers will have access to specialized training when needed to properly care for their clients, Olazar said, whether it’s for patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, or using specialized equipment.
Collis and Olazar came into the home care industry after experiencing times when members of their respective families needed care. Collis, for instance, was a full-time caregiver for a family member for more than seven years.
“Having help from someone outside of the family really reduces stress on a caregiver,” he said.
Olazar also has been a caregiver, as well as a mother of three girls, a Girl Scouts leader, and director of a children’s ministry.
“We like helping people, so we decided to start Right at Home,” she said.
Like most caregiving agencies, Right at Home is licensed to take care of anyone 18 years of age or older. But Collis and Olazar’s focus on younger adults is a little unusual, said Marjorie Marcus, director of operations for Senior Helpers, also in DeLand.
Senior Helpers has occasionally provided care to adults as young as their 50s, but for the most part the clientele is composed of older adults, she said.
“Typically, companies tend to specialize, because nobody can be all things to all people,” Marcus said. “There is definitely a niche in the community for taking care of adult disabled patients, for instance.”
Family members can call Right at Home at 386-279-0493 and set up a time for Olazar or another staff member to visit their home.
“We will go to their home, do a free home inspection and set up a care plan that works best for them,” Olazar said. “There are no contracts — they can cancel anytime.”
