An exciting and much needed change
What we need is a radical reinterpretation of longevity that makes elders and their needs central to our collective pursuit of happiness and well-being. —Dr. Bill Thomas, Founder of The Eden Alternative
Harvest is part of an exciting culture change movement that believes all humans can develop greater strength, purpose, and connection not matter their age or ability. While aging brings its challenges, it also brings rewards. Drawing on the best practices and innovations in caregiving nationwide, Harvest carepartners (which include the home care aide and the client) work together to problem solve, always asking what can be achieved, not what can’t.
At Harvest, we aspire to pioneer a new approach to in-home care. As one of the first home care companies in America to organize as a Benefit Corporation, we have demonstrated a positive impact on our community through sustainable job creation, community outreach and education. We have pioneered the most advanced person-centered practices and principles for home care, building off innovations developed by The Eden Alternative international non-profit. We collaborate and train with world-renowned experts such Eden Alternative founder Dr. Bill Thomas and dementia care expert and Eden Educator Dr. Al Power. We’ve learned to always look to the people we partner in care with as the true experts and teachers.
Our central philosophy of care is based on the tenets of personal well-being. Our services are designed to address what the Eden Alternative refers to as seven Domains of Well-Being™, developed by nationally-recognized experts in long term care culture change. Rather than a task-based approach to care, we focus on supporting:
- IDENTITY— Supporting a person’s feeling of being well-known, having personhood, individuality and personal history.
- GROWTH— Supporting development, enrichment, expanding opportunity and evolution.
- AUTONOMY—Providing liberty, self-determination, choice and freedom.
- SECURITY— Providing freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear, feelings of safety and privacy, dignity and respect.
- CONNECTEDNESS— Supporting a feeling of belonging, engagement, involvement and a connected to time, place, and nature.
- MEANING— Providing a sense of significance, heart, hope, value, purpose and sacredness.
- JOY—Providing opportunity to feel happiness, pleasure, delight, contentment and enjoyment.
Meet our team or call us today for a free consultation. We think you’ll be inspired by what we offer, including our strengths-based approach to aging, our experiential dementia care framework, and our care partners who transcend the assistant label to become companions and friends.
How We Help
We approach care through the lens of well-being. Changes in health and life circumstances can lead to unmet needs that adversely impact a person’s well-being, as well as those around them. Too often, our health care system focuses on the disease or illness and ignores human needs. We believe it can be different by focusing services on our core domains of personal well-being: identity, growth, autonomy, security, connectedness, meaning, and joy.
What You Get
We share your or your loved one’s goals to be connected, grow, feel secure, self-determined, and experience meaning and joy. Instead of focusing on a fragmented list of tasks based on needs and limitations, you will get a holistic approach focused on strengths and well-being. Our care partners are skilled and trained in the most advanced practices of person-directed and dementia care.
What It Looks Like
A successful care partnership increases well-being and services may vary by partnership and over time. Here are examples of what we’ll use together to grow, followed by brief descriptions of specific types of care partnerships we provide:Elder Care, Dementia Care, Dementia In-Home Coaching, Chronic Care and Rehabilitation Care, Child or Special Needs Care, and Care Consultations.
- Conversations
- Friendship
- Taking walks
- Visiting friends and neighbors
- Exploring life
- Travel companion – local & abroad
- Reading
- Conversation
- Gardening
- Correspondence with loved ones (email, letters, Skype, etc.)
- Encouragement and companionship
- Personal hygiene, bathing, dressing, toileting, hair & skin care
- Cooking, meal preparation and clean up
- Medication reminders and supervision
- Hourly or live-in care
- Bath visits
- Overnights
- Grocery shopping
- Escort to medical and personal appointments
- Bed-bound assistance & care
- Secretarial support
- Scheduling appointments
- Organizing, correspondence, and insurance liaison
- Light housekeeping
- Laundry
- Maintaining a clean, comfortable home
Affirming and strength-based support is at the root of our partnerships with aging adults. We focus on growing with you or your loved one to preserve freedom and autonomy, enhance dignity, build meaning, sustain connectedness, and bring joy.
Dementia Care and Dementia In-Home Coaching
Creating a fulfilling, joyful, interactive environment for a loved one with dementia can bring challenges as well as deep rewards. Here are our specialized areas of focus, based on best practices within the dementia care community:
- Understanding & communicating, with emphasis on body language and tone of voice, not words
- Establishing personalized, meaningful rituals rather than routines
- Activities and such as music, art, story telling, gardening, aromatherapy or other specially designed projects that spark creativity, past memory, and self-esteem
- Understanding the meaning behind distressful situations and behavior
- Employment of memory tactics such as word pictures, hydration, de-stressors
Chronic Care and Rehabilitation Care
Individuals living with chronic conditions or transitioning from surgery or rehabilitation often need extra support with activities of daily living. We partner with your medical team to make sure your personal needs are being taken care of.
Whether you need intermittent respite care that keeps your existing structures and routines consistent or more ongoing care, we join and rejuvenate your existing care environment with additional support for you and your loved one.
Unexpected changes in health and living conditions can be a stressful and overwhelming. The first step is as simple as asking for and accepting help from a knowledgeable care partner. We provide short-term care consultation services to support care partners through their journey. We focus on empowering individuals, provide education, referrals to needed community resources, and help solve complex problems. Our Care Consultations include:
- Helping families determine care needs and evaluate their options
- Facilitating family meetings to discuss and help resolve concerns
- Helping mediate family disagreements when there are conflicts over care decisions.
- Providing dementia-specific guidance and support
- Offering consultations for long-term planning
- Supporting families during difficult transitions
- Managing crises
- Assisting families with driving challenges
- Overseeing care for out of town families
Call us today for a free consultation.