Franchisee Success Stories

Services offer more independence for elderly in Tacoma, WA.
With the help of Right at Home, seniors can sustain their independence and avoid having to move into nursing homes. And now with a Tacoma location at 412B Bowes Dr., seniors are able to more readily use the service’s variety of in-home care and assistance.

Dale Anderson and his wife Faith, who opened Right at Home in Tacoma in June, have long been involved in helping the elderly. Anderson, an ordained minister of 20 years, was also a nurse for over 40 years, working at a variety of hospitals and nursing homes.

“I really have a love for the elderly,” he said. A resident of Tacoma since 1989 and owner of Faith and Spirit Inc. doing business as Right at Home, Anderson said he has long held a “desire to raise health standards for the elderly.”

Right at Home was founded by Allen Hager in 1995. The concept offers in-home supportive care and assistance to seniors and other adults to help them continue to live independently. It has more than 90 offices operating in the United States. It plans for an additional 20 offices by the end of the year, with a total of 300 within the next five years.

Anderson said some seniors need help a few hours per week with running errands or taking care of their home. The Right at Home caregivers then are able to assist the seniors in light housework, meal preparation, shopping and errands, laundry and companionship. But other seniors need help 24 hours a day, in which case a caregiver can help with personal care including bathing and dressing.

The seniors are also given a free health watch that can notify the appropriate emergency services in the event of an accident, and a device that organizes their medication.

“Some seniors don’t want to admit they need some extra help,” Anderson said, adding that it will often be the seniors’ children who call in for the service.

All the caregivers are well trained and the ones assigned to give personal care have more specialized medical qualifications. Anderson added that all the caregivers are licensed, bonded and insured, and they offer comparable rates for their services.

Anderson said that as he worked in nursing homes and hospitals he noticed that seniors weren’t getting the special and personal attention that they needed.

“They really need that one-to-one service,” he said.

Faith Anderson, who acts as the president of the organization, agreed.

“They really feel like family when they are given the care,” she said, who added that she enjoys helping people.

On Dec. 9-10 Right at Home will host a Christmas event for seniors at the Park Rose Care Center. Partnering up with students from Foss High School they will create a faux mall where the seniors can choose gifts from 1:30-4 p.m. on both days. The 84th ARTAC Military Unit of Fort Lewis will also be present to handle the shipping of gifts to the seniors’ families who live outside the area.
There will also be entertainment provided by the high school jazz choir who will be singing holiday music.

“It’s really our way of giving back to the community and to the seniors for the holiday,” Dale Anderson said.

In the future, he would like to expand their operations in Tacoma and look at opening two more locations in the area to serve the needs of seniors.

For more information about Right at Home call (253) 460-4848 or visit www.rightathome.net/tacoma.

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Read article online here: http://www.tacomaweekly.com/_story.php?q=2803&p=19
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