For older adults who are still physically independent, companion care provides social connection and routine management. Photos: Joyful Companions
Finding the “right time” to move an aging loved one from their independent house into an assisted living home can be tricky, especially for those with memory issues who are mostly able-bodied but struggle with daily upkeep. Joyful Companions is a Plymouth-based home care service that provides consistent, nonmedical care to seniors and those with memory loss, which can allow a loved one to stay put for longer.
“We really do focus on the ability to provide companionship, which means the verbal cues, the socialization,” Lindsay Walker says. “Somebody is lonely and isolated. Our seniors need someone by their side.” Walker and her mother, Jeri Gort, co-own Joyful Companions, and their methods are informed by their backgrounds in social work.
Although Joyful Companions focuses on companionship for clients throughout the Twin Cities, it also provides assistance with domestic tasks, such as light housekeeping, meal preparation and schedule reminders. “[Clients are] physically independent, but they still need someone to be there to remind them what day it is, what time to eat,” Walker says. “What’s going on to maintain their routine is primarily why companion care is important because those are things they start to forget.”
Joyful Companions meets with potential clients and their families to determine their needs.
To get started, Joyful Companions meets with a potential client and the family to gauge their needs and get to know them better. Families and caretakers are the ones initiating the service, often because they live too far away or can’t always be present to ensure their aging loved ones are taking care of themselves.
After completing a questionnaire, Joyful Companions aims to match clients with caregivers who share similar interests and personalities to strengthen the bond between them. Clients sometimes start off uninterested in the help, but within the first couple of weeks, many look forward to their companions’ visits.
Joyful Companions caters to a wide variety of time needs, with many visits starting at a few hours at a time, a few times a week, before progressing to check-ins twice a day and overnight care. It aims to assign regular caregivers, giving clients a sense of stability and routine, and keep the same hours each day.
Clients are assigned regular caregivers to build rapport and routine.
There’s a sense of ownership and pride behind the work of Joyful Companions caregivers, according to Plymouth client Dwianna Taylor’s children, Candice and Scott Taylor. Their mother has received care for about three and a half years, and the time spent with companions has increased over that period. Some of Dwianna’s companions attended her 90th birthday party, and although she cannot remember their names, she recognizes them as people she considers friends.
“[Companions] can vacuum, do laundry, change sheets, but it was really looking more for the companion to do puzzles with, to cook with, to make sure she eats, so that [kind of] companion care,” Scott says. “Even just sitting outside when the weather’s nicer on the screen porch, you’re just taking the time to be there.”
“I think some of the benefit is that she’s got someone there, so that gives us peace of mind,” Candice adds.
Joyful Companions
Facebook: Joyful Companions Home Care
