In 2008 my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She already lived
with us and was able to care for herself during the day while my husband
and I were at work. We noticed mid way through 2012 that the disease
was causing her to decline and she was becoming unable to initiate daily
living tasks (bathing, eating, picking up after herself). We made
daytime as easy as possible with easy premade food items that could just
be taken out of the fridge and consumed, which she still found
difficult to do. We started to engage mom in discussions to get some
help for her during the day while we were away. The discussions did not
go well and she did NOT want a "stranger" to help her during the day.
I finally had to realize that I was now in the parental role and that I
needed to start acting on what needed to be done for her health and
safety and stop asking for permission. My husband actually found AltaGolden online by searching for in home assistance for seniors. We had
the difficult discussion with mom that we had engaged AltaGolden and
they would be coming to the house to meet us and discuss our needs.
Both
Laura and Nancy came to the house and it didn't take more than 10
minutes for us to realize we made the right decision to engage them.
They were both incredibly warm and friendly and immediately put all of
us at ease with the process. Even mom was excited! It was immediately
obvious that this isn't just a business to them, they genuinely care
about helping seniors live life to the fullest and to insure that they
are able to stay in their homes as long as possible with kind, loving,
skilled care. I loved the fact that unlike other similar businesses,
they didn't just have a pool of people ready to be "assigned." I was
very honest with them about my expectations of the type of individual I
wanted them to try to find and they absolutely understood. It took them
only a few days before they contacted us with their excitement regarding
the individual they found. They wanted to arrange a meeting so both
mom and we could meet her and see if we felt she would be a good fit.
The meeting could not have gone any better than it did and we
immediately felt comfortable with their choice. I think the importance
of this is that I have heard horror stories from people about companies
who just have people that they "dispatch." May not be the same person
every day and it is a job to these individuals. Alta Golden makes sure
that they provide a caregiver that becomes part of your family and
someone who truly has the best interest of the senior at heart.
Needless
to say we started the service immediately and a little over two years
later we cannot express how happy we have been with every aspect of AltaGolden. They make a personal visit once a month and send notes
regarding any changes to mom's environment that they feel may be
needed. They email articles they feel might be of interest to us. They
provide memory games that they swap out monthly so mom has some fun
games to play with "her Vickie." Yes mom refers to her caregiver as
"her Vickie" and several times a week she will comment how she loves her
dearly. Vickie helps with appointments, they do light housekeeping,
she makes mom lunch every day, they share stories about their families,
look at pictures and of course I love receiving the "selfies" they send
to me at work. If laughter is the best medicine than I know mom is
getting some healthy doses each day. Her demeanor when Vickie is there
will warm your heart.
If you are reading this review because you
are starting your own journey to find the best care for your aging
parents or other relatives, I would strongly encourage you to let AltaGolden into your lives to provide this care. You will not regret your
decision and you will know without a doubt that you made the right
decision once you meet Laura and her staff. If I could rate AltaGolden
more than five stars, I would.
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