Client Success Stories

Matching Caregivers with Clients means Quality Home Care
“It is very important that the client and the family trust the person assigned to them by the home health agency.”

So says a client of Right at Home of the Greater Twin Cities who calls her RAH caregiver her “angel.”

Phyllis Drews, 73, mother of seven children and 16 grandchildren, had several unsatisfactory experiences with home health agencies before her insurance agent recommended Right at Home. Even her experience with home health workers available at the large independent living facility — where she currently lives — did not meet her expectations.

“You need to find a good agency like Right at Home that has its clients’ best interests at heart,” Phyllis says.

“Julie (Julie Ellingson, RAH client intake and quality care manager) came out to interview me so she could match me up with just the right person.”

And she did – Kris Webb, a caregiver who is going to school to become a nursing assistant.

“Every time she walks in this room she brings sunshine,” Phyllis said. “She does my laundry, cleans the apartment, changes things around for me, does my shopping using my list and coupons to get the best deals. She looks out for my pocketbook!”

Kris is also a friend. “She encourages me. If I have a problem that I’m mulling over, she listens and then we talk it over. We laugh together and try not to dwell on bad things, but sometimes — when I’m not feeling well — she just does her work while I sleep. When she’s ready to leave, she just gives me a big hug and off she goes.”

Phyllis’ caregiver fits well with her needs and her lifestyle.

Phyllis is a survivor of breast cancer who was diagnosed with an unrelated cancer in her chest that is bulging into her esophagus and right lung, making it difficult to breathe, eat and swallow. That problem was followed by pulmonary fibrosis idiopathy.

She laughs and says her doctor told her “idiopathy means we are idiots and don’t know what actually caused the fibrosis!” She is on oxygen 24 hours a day.

“Laughter and my faith keep me going,” she says.

“I fix myself up every morning just the way I did when I was working (she was an accountant) even if I’m going to spend the day in bed. That’s what keeps me young and helps me deal with my illnesses. I don’t want to think sick. That way people don’t think of me as a sick person.”

Phyllis remains active at the independent living facility, doing crafts in her apartment and interacting with residents in the large building near downtown Minneapolis.

“I’m a people person,” Phyllis says, and she likes to help people even now when she gets around in a wheelchair or electric scooter outfitted with oxygen.

“I have two good legs and two good arms,” she says, “and there are plenty of opportunities to be helpful to people. If I see someone sitting all by themselves, I see if they need a little company. If they are having trouble at the elevator, I help them.”

Although Phyllis wants to remain in independent living as long as possible, she knows she will some day need to move to a nursing home when she requires 24-hour nursing care.

For now, she is a vital, happy woman living the lifestyle she likes in her own apartment, with the help of her RAH angel.

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