Episode Transcript
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Jeremy Wolf (00:02):
Welcome to the
Comfort Keepers Davy podcast,
where we elevate the humanspirit.
Kristi Gurule (00:07):
Here's your host,
Christy Groulet.
Hello, hello everyone, andwelcome back to another episode
of the Comfort Keepers Davypodcast.
I am your lovely co-host,Jeremy Wolf, but not as lovely
as your host, Christy Groulet,Thank you.
Jeremy Wolf (00:26):
That was
beautifully done.
Good morning everyone.
Co-host Jeremy Wolf.
But not as lovely as your host,Christy Grulay.
Kristi Gurule (00:30):
Thank you, that
was beautifully done.
Good morning everyone.
It was magical, some would sayso.
We were chatting before theshow.
You mentioned that we've talkedabout a wide range of topics on
the podcast.
You said that something that'sbeen coming up lately has been
your Comfort keepers has beencalled in to help for shorter
periods of time when people aregoing on vacation and they want
to bring you in just whilethey're gone.
(00:51):
So talk a little bit about that,maybe some recent experiences,
what you're doing in that regard, Because I think a lot of
people they wouldn't necessarilylook to what you do for such a
short period of time.
It would be like a moreconsistent thing.
Talk a little bit about thatand then we'll kind of navigate
accordingly.
Jeremy Wolf (01:07):
Okay, great.
Well, vacations can happenanytime.
It just seems like they ebb andflow all of the time.
And just recently we've hadmore phone calls inquiring about
short-term placement in thehome of one of my caregivers to
help with an elderly loved one.
And that's really what sets usapart, because I don't require
(01:29):
contracts, I don't require tocome into your home for so many
hours a day or days a week.
We just want to help you.
So this is like a twofold thing.
I've seen it play outbeautifully for families who are
trying to convince their lovedone that they need help Trying
to convince, because we talkedabout.
Kristi Gurule (01:48):
We talked about
this before elder generations.
They're stubborn, they don'twant to admit they need help.
They'll go to their grave aloneand lonely, because simple
resistance well, no, I mean,they're confident, they are
independent.
When I was a kid, I used to towalk to school 10 miles through
the snow.
It's that mentality, right?
So, yeah, a lot of what you dois really working with the
(02:12):
children of the parent, and thenyou're kind of figuring out a
way to enter into the worldthat's not as invasive and
threatening as they might feel.
Jeremy Wolf (02:20):
Yeah, exactly, and
it's really just to prove that
again.
This is not what theirpreconceived notion is.
I'm not a nurse coming in.
I'm not coming in and it'sgoing to be cold and sterile.
I'm coming in to help you whileyour family is gone.
So that's probably been thebest thing that's come out of a
family who just needs to leave,whether it's over the weekend or
they're leaving for a week on acruise and they really just
(02:40):
want someone to come in and helpprep meals for mom and dad or
or whatever it might be, helpjust tidy up around the house,
maybe help them with theirlaundry.
That is exactly what it is thatwe'll do, and if it's a week,
fantastic.
If it's over a weekend,fantastic.
If it's one day, that is stillokay.
We can accommodate all of thosethings.
We want it to make sense forthat family and the individuals
(03:01):
that we're serving.
But what I've seen come out ofit is wonderful.
Kristi Gurule (03:07):
They're like oh,
that was not at all what.
Jeremy Wolf (03:09):
I expected, I
didn't realize it was going to
be like this.
Yeah, oh, I liked that personRight, and that's that's the
epiphany, and that's what I love, because, again, it's a.
It's an easy way to do anintroduction when you yourself,
as the family, need to get outRight.
Everybody deserves that respiteand it's exhausting, and every
I need a vacation, you need avacation, everybody needs a
(03:30):
vacation.
But when you're caring forother family members too and you
don't want that in the back ofyour head, worrying about that
individual or individuals whileyou're gone, you should be able
to relax and know that ifanything does happen, that
you'll be receiving a phone callfrom my team, but nothing will
happen.
We'll be there, yeah.
(03:56):
So that's just been a reallybig thing here lately and
something that, yeah, peopledon't necessarily think about
and it can just be an easy, easycheck-in and that's really cool
because, again, there's thisresistance to getting help.
Kristi Gurule (04:06):
But if you bring
somebody in again just for a day
or just a short period of timeand they see what that process
is like and they like it, thatopens the conversation about
getting more help in the futureand it eases the burden of
putting somebody in there for along period of time.
It just makes that conversationthat much easier to have with
(04:27):
your loved ones.
I want to go back to thatconversation.
We touched on this before, butI think it's interesting.
How do you at Comfort Keeperstypically handle that process?
Right, you have a family thatcomes to you.
They say, hey, I need help withmy parents, they're getting
older, but they're reluctant,they don't want help.
What do you do on your end?
How do you I know you'vementioned in the past that some
(04:49):
tactics that you'd use and someways you ease into that.
Go through that again if youcould, because I think that's
interesting.
Jeremy Wolf (04:55):
Yeah, of course.
So it's really based on eachindividual.
So there are some people thatwe need to have a whole
collaborative effort with thefamily that's either there, or
maybe they're out of state andwe wait until they're coming in
state.
Family that's either there, ormaybe they're out of state and
we wait until they're coming instate, and we seriously there is
(05:18):
itineraries that are madearound something like this, and
we come in not with a clipboardor a laptop.
We don't come in as someonewho's trying to sell you
something.
We come in as a friend of yourfamily, somebody who's already
made a connection with hisdaughter or son or whomever he
was that's seeking this Makes somuch sense.
Yeah.
And so when we come inalongside them and we're
introduced by them like this isChristy, If it's me, if this is
(05:42):
Christy.
Kristi Gurule (05:45):
Uh-oh, you just
muted out there for a second.
Jeremy Wolf (05:48):
She and I have been
talking about.
Sorry, you just muted out therefor a second.
She and I have been talkingabout.
Kristi Gurule (05:51):
Oh Sorry, you
just went mute for like 10
seconds there, so I missed whatyou said Conspiracy.
Yeah, they're out to get you,christy.
I didn't want to hear it.
Jeremy Wolf (06:01):
Okay.
So when I come into somebody'shome and I'm introduced to
someone's loved one by thatfamily member, it's so much more
natural.
So I'm Christy I'm here becauseI've been talking to your
daughter and I think that I havean answer to come in and help
you with laundry, to help youwith these things, and not just
jump straight to.
(06:22):
I'm going to help you bathe.
I'm going to make sure thatyou're taking your medicine.
Kristi Gurule (06:27):
That could be a
really awkward thing if you
don't do that right.
It's like just bring somebodyin, like you said, with a
clipboard and like a nurse'sshirt on.
It's like, hey, we're going toget you in the bath now.
Jeremy Wolf (06:35):
But seriously
though I'm not, I am not even
going to say that, oh, that goeson.
I'm sure that experiencesomething like that and then're
like that was not at all what Ithought it would be.
So it's.
It's overcoming thesestereotypes, too, that
unfortunately are in ourindustry.
We want to break those barriers, and the only way to do it is
(07:01):
to build trust, and buildingtrust with a lot of
conversations ahead of time.
We don't just jump in there.
That's really it, and it really.
It is case by case.
So for, for instance, I don'tspeak spanish.
Kristi Gurule (07:09):
I really wish
that I did I hate that, I no
I'll have to teach you it's sosad.
Jeremy Wolf (07:16):
I'm very angry with
myself.
Go back to my high school daysand like yell at myself, I have
I have a hispanic wife.
Kristi Gurule (07:22):
She's from peru.
Her family all speak spanish.
I don't even speak spanishentlyyet.
Shame on me.
Jeremy Wolf (07:29):
We won't go down
that road.
So I'm sorry I opened that canof worms, but what I'm saying is
if I have a family and theyknow that it would be much more
comfortable for their mother orfather to have somebody that is
fluently bilingual, then I havesomebody, I have somebody.
It wouldn't be me, it would notbe me to come in because that's
not comfortable for them.
(07:49):
And so we try in every singleway to accommodate some of those
personalized requests, just sothat we can ease our way in to
again help them, but really helptake the burden off of family
that are worried about theirloved ones.
Kristi Gurule (08:09):
So important.
Yeah, I'm just thinking like,like and men are so, especially
men, right, we're like we don'teven want to ask for directions,
Like in terms of trying to gethelp, right, it's like, oh, I'll
figure it out my own.
So, like the idea of havingsomebody come in the way you
frame that right as a friend ofthe family, as somebody that you
already know you're here tojust help take a little bit of
(08:30):
you know, instead of just, oh,we're going to you know, you
need us.
You can't do this on your own,so exactly.
Jeremy Wolf (08:36):
It's the approach,
and we are very, very personable
Each and every one of us are soyou can't be somebody that's
cold or that can't read someone.
That's a big thing too.
People don't just become anopen book when you come into
their home.
They're private, so you have tobe able to read the situation
as well.
But we even go a step furtherAre there pets in the home?
(08:57):
What kind of pets do you have?
Can I bring a treat for the pet?
Like?
That is something that willspeak volumes to someone.
That's their baby, right, that'stheir companion.
Let me bring something forRocky.
Oh, that's awesome.
If that's okay with Rocky,fantastic.
So we've got a treat for thepet.
I'm a friend of the family.
Now, also tell me, does he havea favorite?
(09:18):
Does he have a favorite snack?
I don't know what time of dayare we coming for, coming in the
morning.
Does he love coffee?
Okay, great.
Can I pick him up a coffee?
Can I bring you guys coffee?
Kristi Gurule (09:29):
I love coffee.
I love coffee.
Christy, you could bring mecoffee.
Yes, well, I do too.
Jeremy Wolf (09:33):
So we try to find
ways again to come in and make
it as comfortable as possible.
I'm a visitor in your home, aguest, and I'm showing you all
of the respect I can give you,and I'm also bringing you gifts.
Most people accept that.
Kristi Gurule (09:48):
I got a question
for you.
Jeremy Wolf (09:50):
Yes.
Kristi Gurule (09:51):
I know that you
guys do errands with clients and
you go places and things likethat.
Do you ever do comfort keepers,ever actually do travel with
elderly people, or is that?
Is that not something you doLike in terms of they need to go
, like if you need to?
Let's say they were down inSouth Florida and their family
was in another location and theywanted to take a road trip,
let's say, and go somewhere.
Do you accompany on them,accompany them on something like
(10:13):
that, or no?
Jeremy Wolf (10:14):
We have, we have,
so there's again a lot of
logistics behind it and whatdoes that look like?
What is the expectation?
All of our employees arelicensed, bonded, insured, so we
want to make sure we've got allof those things on file.
But, yes, we've accompaniedpeople I've helped take.
My most recent was prettyspecial, it was out of state
(10:36):
even, and we took them tosomeone's graduation from the
Air Force Academy.
Kristi Gurule (10:42):
This was not in
Florida but still.
Oh, you just went mute again.
They're out to get you.
Jeremy Wolf (10:49):
It was really
beautiful because there was no
other way that this person couldhave hey keeping everybody on
their toes.
I have no idea why that'shappening, so I'm not sure.
So ghost in the machine.
Oh geez, don't talk about that.
Anyway, we took a gentleman tosee his grandson graduate from
(11:10):
the Air Force Academy, and thatwas incredible because he too
was a veteran, and it was veryspecial.
It was a weekend thing, it wasa four-day thing, but the family
really had no other way ofgetting him there.
Our caregiver was likeabsolutely this gentleman may
not be here to see him come backfrom when he's gone, and that
(11:30):
was just really special and itmeant so much to that person,
but to the grandson, who didn'texpect to also see him arrive.
So, yes, we can definitely work.
We want to personalize as muchas we can to make these moments
possible.
Kristi Gurule (11:46):
Yeah, so you're
always on the cutting edge.
You're always doing fun things.
I know you do the annual seniorprom.
You're very active in thecommunity and you're always so
busy.
You're always moving.
What's on the horizon here?
What's going on?
What news do you have to share?
I know you always havesomething.
Jeremy Wolf (12:07):
I always have
something.
So something else that isbecoming a big trend across the
United States is a programcalled Hospitalling to Home, and
what this really is all aroundis that our hospital systems are
very busy and we have a nursingstaffing shortage and all of
(12:29):
these huge regional hospitalorganizations and people are
coming home too soon without thesupport that they need and then
they're re-hospitalized, and soit's a lot.
It's like a big look at it,almost like a turnover, but
that's not really.
It's like.
Readmission rate is very, veryhigh, which is not good for any
(12:49):
hospital.
So hospitalling to home meansthat a hospital is going to work
closer with organizations likemyself that can help bring a
client home to get them settled,and, though I cannot do all of
the nursing things, a nurse fromanother organization or from
the hospital can come in and doall of the skilled that's
(13:12):
required, but then I'm there toensure that they are remembering
to take their medication, thatthey are eating properly.
Again, these little thingspreparing the home before they
even come home that's somethingthat a lot of people don't think
about either.
Do we even have a refrigeratorfull of food when somebody comes
home from the hospital?
Probably not, and then it'slike panic of do I have family
(13:35):
in the area that can help mewith this?
So hospitaling to home is aterm that we're going to start
seeing more and more and it'sbeing really tested in a few
different markets, and we areapproaching every single one of
our local hospitals, regionalhospitals, to say that we are
ready we are absolutely ready tobe a part of the team for
(13:55):
making this all possible.
Kristi Gurule (13:58):
Absolutely love
that.
I could see how, as you getolder, staying in a place like a
hospital for too long couldhave detrimental effects on your
mindset and your life.
Right and we talked about thisalso on previous episodes the
longer somebody can staycomfortably in their home, the
better off they're going to be.
(14:19):
Right, taking somebody and justabruptly moving them from their
home, where they've been inmany cases 30, 40, 50, 60 years,
their whole life and thenputting them in an assisted
living or nursing home, that'slike shock to the system.
That's got to take some lifeoff the end of your life.
At that point, like, the longeryou can stay comfortable in
your own house, it's going tohave you live the longest, most
fulfilled life, and that'sreally what you guys excel at is
making people comfortable.
Jeremy Wolf (14:47):
Well, in hospital
stuff though, too, jeremy,
what's sad is that a lot oftimes they, a person, will get
to a certain amount of days andtheir insurance says you can't
be here anymore.
And that's sad, right, andthat's like well above, like
that's a much bigger, biggerissue.
But again, these are whathospitals are running into.
And what do you do?
You can't just put them outright.
They've got to get home.
They have to have some kind ofsupport when they get there.
So it's a it's an excitingthing.
Kristi Gurule (15:11):
You went mute
again.
Third time's a charm, you'reback.
Jeremy Wolf (15:18):
Hey, I don't even
know.
Nothing changes on my computerwhen I go mute.
You're still there andeverything.
Kristi Gurule (15:28):
Maybe it'll come
out perfectly on the actual
recording.
We'll find out.
Jeremy Wolf (15:32):
It should be
determined.
Kristi Gurule (15:35):
It's all good, we
roll with the punches around
these parts.
We do, we do.
Jeremy Wolf (15:39):
I'm good with that.
I'm just saying that we aredefinitely on the front end.
Kristi Gurule (15:46):
Uh-oh, you muted
again.
Jeremy Wolf (15:50):
Of everything
that's happening in my back.
Kristi Gurule (15:53):
There you are.
Yeah, kind of.
Jeremy Wolf (15:55):
It's a joke Cutting
edge.
Kristi Gurule (15:58):
It's not about
cutting edges.
Jeremy Wolf (16:00):
Now I'm like
worried about even talking
because I'm going to get cut off.
Kristi Gurule (16:05):
It's a sign that
we need to wrap the episode up.
I think we talked about somegood stuff.
Yeah, it was good, always good,always good.
So okay, I'm at a loss here,christy, you wrap this one up.
Tell everybody Do the wholeclosing thing.
I told you this was an off day,off week, for me.
I've been under the weather,deer in headlights, Give me a
(16:27):
quick smack across the face,close this one out.
Jeremy Wolf (16:29):
You just remember
that if you need any help,
Jeremy, that you can always call.
You can always call and we willhave someone available 24-7,
seven days a week, even onholidays, if your wife needs
some respite from taking care ofyou.
Kristi Gurule (16:42):
Good to know.
Jeremy Wolf (16:50):
Just want to put
that out there.
Well, hopefully, all jokesaside, that the next time that
we get to speak together on theDavey Comfort Keepers podcast,
that I'll have more informationabout the hospitaling to home, a
new program throughout theUnited States we're really
excited to be a part of.
But thank you, jeremy, forhelping co-host this lovely
podcast and until next time,everyone, have a great day.
Kristi Gurule (17:11):
Adios Take care.
Thank you for listening to theComfort Keepers Davie podcast.
For more information, visitcomfortkeeperscom or call
954-947-7954.