AmanaCare: Reimagining Senior Support Across Nebraska's Rural Communities

Walking the fine line between daughter and caregiver transforms how we understand senior care. In this heartfelt conversation with Heather Shanou, Sales and Marketing Director at AmanaCare, we explore the profound intersection of professional expertise and personal experience that shapes compassionate home care delivery across Nebraska.

Heather opens up about her journey from watching her mother need home care to advocating for families experiencing similar circumstances. "Being able to be her daughter instead of having to empty her catheter or change her bedsheets" allowed her to create precious final memories—a gift she now helps other families experience through AmanaCare's comprehensive services. Her story exemplifies how the company's marketing team brings authentic understanding to their outreach, having lived through the challenges they help others navigate.

From Lincoln to Valentine, Nebraska's seniors gain access to consistent, quality care through AmanaCare's expanding network. The company's detailed intake process ensures proper matching between caregivers and clients, while monthly reassessments adapt to evolving needs. Most impressive is their Care360 program addressing relationships, activities, religion, and safety—a truly holistic approach that recognizes seniors need more than just physical assistance to thrive.

As a faith-based organization, AmanaCare offers spiritual support without pressure, understanding that quality care respects individual preferences while opening doors to community engagement. For rural seniors who often face limited options, this comprehensive approach makes aging in place viable even in remote communities.

Whether you're seeking guidance for a loved one or wondering how innovative care models are transforming senior support, this episode illuminates the human-centered approaches making difference in homes across Nebraska. Subscribe to Care Across America for more conversations with passionate advocates changing how we care for aging adults, one community at a time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi, I'm Valerie Van Boeven, registered Nurse, and
this is Care Across America,where we shine a spotlight on
the people, the passion and thepurpose behind senior care in
the United States.
Every week, we're bringing youreal conversations with real
experts who are changing the waywe care for aging adults, one
community at a time.
Whether you're a provider, acaregiver or just someone who

(00:34):
cares deeply about the qualityof life for seniors, you're in
the right place.
Let's get into today's episode.
Today we're talking to HeatherSchanou.
Today's episode Today we'retalking to Heather Schanou,
sales and Marketing Director forAmanaCare with a headquarters
in Lincoln, nebraska.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I got into marketing because I have a design
background and I wanted tocouple that with socializing
with people.
So I love that I get to createthings and then share them with
people and I like to make thoseconnections and just be able to
identify with people's struggles.
And that coincides with mypersonal experiences, which is

(01:15):
my mom needed home care lastyear and so seeing things from
the other side like not justmarketing and telling people
about the services, but actuallyneeding those services for my
family it really puts me in aunique position.
I feel like just having thatpersonal side of needing care,
having care, and experiencinghow that really helped those

(01:40):
last few months with my mombecause of course they were very
difficult, not just for her butfor me and my brother and
sister too but being able to beher daughter instead of having
to be like, okay, I got to emptyyour catheter now and I need to
do your laundry now and I needto change your bedsheets and I
need to make you supper that wehad somebody there that helped

(02:01):
us with those things, so that Icould spend quality time with
her and create those memoriesthat I will cherish for the rest
of my life.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
I think that when you come to the table as a home
care provider, as someone who isworking for AmanaCare and with
your community, the fact thatyou understand that level of
overwhelm and you know what it'slike to be on the other side
really helps.
Not that you wish that onanyone, obviously, but the

(02:33):
compassion that you must feelfor these folks is tremendous,
because being a caregiver is sohard and not being able to just
sit there and enjoy watching amovie or whatever it is that you
guys are doing together.
I think you told me you guyswatched was it Wheel of Fortune
or no?
The little things like that arewhat matters so much, and so

(02:57):
it's really nice to talk tosomebody who works in this
industry who also understandsthe other side of that.
Yes, so tell us a little bitmore about your role at
AmanaCare.
I am the sales and marketingdirector.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
I started out being the director of referral
partnerships and then somethings shifted in this
department and just because ofsome of my previous leadership
with another company that was inthe home care industry and, I
think, just because of how Iconnect with people, I was put
into this position.

(03:34):
So, including myself, there arefour of us in the sales and
marketing department and we'restrategically spread throughout
Nebraska so that we each kind ofhave our own territory and we
collaborate on a lot of things,like, for example, hallie, who
is located in Lincoln.
She had someone call in andthey're needing home care for

(03:55):
their mom who is experiencingcancer and she is in stage four
and it is not looking good andshe doesn't want to spend her
last few months in the hospital,and so Hallie was talking about
this family and I said, hey, Iwould love to talk to them
because I've been through thatexact scenario.
And so just little things likethat where we all help each

(04:17):
other and we all talk to eachother and each other's clients
and their family members,because we all have experiences
in this from different point ofviews Like, for example, amber
she is in Broken Bow and herhusband is actually a client of
ours.
He had a stroke about four yearsago and he needs a lot of care,

(04:40):
and so she hired a caregiver sothat she can do marketing for
AmanaCare during the day.
But she has a caregiver thatcomes in and is there during the
day and it's just all thesedifferent walks of life and all
different types of clients and Ijust love it.
I don't love that they're inthe position that they're in,

(05:02):
but I love that we're able tohelp them Because, like you
mentioned earlier, life happensand when it does, we're there
for you?

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
And one of the things thatoccurs to me recently is that
AmanaCare has really grown quitea bit in the last several
months.
I know you were always locatedin Lincoln, but now you pretty
much serve the entire state, ifI'm correct about that.
I know you have several sort ofoffice locations, but you can

(05:31):
pretty much serve anybodyanywhere.
Is that true?

Speaker 2 (05:35):
but you can pretty much serve anybody anywhere.
Is that true?
It is true, yes, we have fiveoffices and I'm going order of
Scotts Bluff, north Platte,kearney, lincoln and Omaha.
But we do have clients as farnorth as Ainsworth and Valentine
and we had a lead over in Lyman.
I can't remember exactly whathappened there, but that's like
as far west as you can go, andwe've also had some in the lower

(05:57):
part like Imperial, and so,yeah, the whole state, we cover
the whole state of Nebraska.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
And that is a big territory, so that's amazing.
I'm so glad you guys can beanywhere and I know that's not
an easy task either, so that'smuch appreciated.
So let's talk about whathappens when a spouse or an
adult child of an aging parentcalls up and their level of

(06:25):
concern and overwhelm and stress.
So what happens when they callone of you one of the offices?
What happens next?
What happens when they call oneof you one of the offices?
What happens next?

Speaker 2 (06:34):
We listen to them and try to gather as much
information as we can about thesituation.
Most of the time we're able tohelp them, but in the event that
we're not, because we arenon-medical, so sometimes they
need a little bit more than whatwe're able to provide.
We do have power partners thatwe will talk to them and see if
they can help them instead andfrom there we do an in-person

(06:58):
consultation.
So one of our care coordinatorsgoes into the home and meets
the client and any familymembers and gets a better idea
of what the situation is like,because sometimes there's things
that we might notice that youdidn't, and so we get that
better idea of what thesituation is like.
And then the next step would bea meet and greet with the

(07:22):
caregiver and the carecoordinator oversees that.
So it's not just two randompeople meeting each other, but
the care coordinator knows thecaregiver and has met the client
, so she or he sometimes willoversee that.
And then from there we juststart the scheduling.
And then we have the ongoingsupport, because the care

(07:43):
coordinator, she, advocates forthe clients.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
So at least once a month, if not more often, we'll
check in, see if there's beenany health changes see if
everything's still a good matchwith the caregiver and if it's
not, we make those adjustmentsbecause the client's needs and
preferences that comes firstalways Sure and, as you know
from doing this for a long time,as you have clients that start

(08:08):
out, maybe they just need alittle bit of care, maybe they
just need a few days a week or afew hours a day every day.
Whatever the case, as time goeson those needs might increase.
Sometimes they don't, but a lotof times they do.
As a disease progresses or ifthey have dementia, as it gets
worse, they might needadditional caregivers, they

(08:29):
might need more shifts.
So, yeah, re-evaluating thatcare once a month, that's great,
because it does sometimeschange pretty quick depending on
what kind of disease processwe're talking about.
So tell us about the 360program, because I know that
really impresses me.
I know it's on your website,but tell us how that works.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Sure For Care360, that is more than just the
person's needs and their dailyactivities.
But we look at relationships,activities, religion and safety.
So for that, for therelationships, we also kind of
couple community withrelationships.

(09:09):
So it's family and things outin the community that they might
be involved in or might want toget involved in, or if they
want to stay connected withfamily members or friends.
If it's through social media,email, having coffee with them,
we can help make those thingshappen.
And then activity that's eithermental or physical activity.

(09:30):
So if there's things that thephysical therapist would like
them to do, we can assist themwith that.
We're not physical therapistsbut we can help them with what
the physical therapist has toldthem to do.
Or maybe chair exercises, doingcrossword puzzles or board
games.
And the next religion if thatis that they want to go to
church, we can help them getthere.

(09:51):
We can bring them back.
Maybe they want to visit withtheir pastor or priest.
We can get in contact with themto make that happen.
We can get them access toBibles or Bible verses or
whatever those resources looklike.
And then safety we look at thehome.
We see if there's any barriersor issues as far as might be

(10:11):
safety concerns, we can checkthe smoke alarms.
We can help hook up the clientswith things that they might
need to make their home moresafe, because there's not
everything.
We can't install a window orthings like that but we can help
them get someone who can do itfor them and we can keep that as
low cost as possible, becausewe have a lot of resources and

(10:34):
connections all over the state.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
So it sounds like 360 , it helps with just about
everything but that those carecoordinators and the caregivers
who obviously are communicatingback with the office and the
care coordinator and the family.
Really it takes care of justthe little things about the
house that you notice that youcould make a little safer.

(10:57):
That's a big deal.
Sometimes just clearing a greatpathway so it's not full of
clutter, or being able to changeout some light bulbs just
little things that might makethe house a little bit safer.
That's enormous, because justkeeping somebody from falling is
that fall risk is super high aswe get a little bit more

(11:21):
debilitated.
And boy, just cleaning up a fewthings to help folks around the
house is such a good idea.
So 360 sounds like it just ittakes into consideration
everything from the family,spirituality and community all
across the board.
That's awesome.
You don't hear that a lot.
You hear a continuum of careand you hear a lot of things,

(11:43):
but AmanaCare is a faith-basedorganization as well.
It's a very big part of why youall the founders, started
AmanaCare and I think carryingthat through to be able to help
your clients with that is reallynice.
We don't hear that a lot andthat's so refreshing.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes, and while it's something we don't push on
people, if it's something thatthey're not interested in,
that's totally fine.
Yes, and while it's somethingwe don't push on people, if it's
something that they're notinterested in, that's totally
fine.
We're not going to make them dothings like that.
It's the client's decision.
But if they do want to get morespirituality and religious
involvement in their lives, weare more than happy to help them
do that.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, I think sometimes just to be able to
have a visit or maybe go tochurch once in a while how many
seniors feel so shut in andthat's something they enjoyed
their whole life and they wouldlove to do that, but they don't.
They can't drive anymore andtheir family doesn't live close
enough to help.
So those are the kinds ofthings or maybe it's just going
out and having lunch with somefriends Whatever those little

(12:47):
things are that you guys canhelp them with it helps their
heart immensely.
That's awesome.
All right, I want to thank youfor talking to me about
AmanaCare, because when we getinto our rural areas I know
folks feel like they might beunderserved, but with
organizations like AmanaCare outthere in Nebraska, there's so

(13:07):
much more that they can.
They have so many more optionsfor care.
So I want to thank you fortalking to us about that.