E94: How Independence Care Helps Seniors Stay Home Longer- with Dignity

What makes Max Troiano with Independence Care a good neighbor?  

Keep your parents at home, safe and supported, without guessing your way through the maze of options. We sit down with Independence Care’s Max Troiano for a candid, hopeful conversation about what real home care looks like when it’s done well: practical help in the kitchen and living room, reliable transfers and mobility support, and a concierge mindset that fills the gaps so elders keep their routines- and their dignity.

Max shares how he traded a corporate path for a mission-driven career, offering an insider’s view of the home care ecosystem. We unpack stubborn myths, including the widespread belief that family members can’t be paid to care for loved ones on Medicaid. You’ll hear how programs increasingly support family caregivers, why multi-generational living is a powerful, modern solution, and the very real constraints agencies face when reimbursement rates limit what they can pay the aides doing the hardest work. The result is a grounded framework families can use to plan: combine trained caregivers with family support, build a simple daily routine, and choose partners who value responsiveness over marketing hype.

We also dig into health habits that compound over decades- consistent exercise, sunlight, sleep, and real food- filtered through lessons learned in living rooms across the city. And Max opens up about Independence Care’s broader vision: projects that connect housing with behavioral health support and a commitment to serve homeless veterans with stability and respect. It’s a story about care as community infrastructure, built one reliable visit at a time.

If you’re navigating elder care, considering paid family caregiving, or exploring work as a home health aide, this conversation will give you clarity and next steps. Subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest question about staying independent at home.

To learn more about Independence Care go to: 

https://www.independence-care.com/

Independence Care

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a home healthcare agency?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Max Troiano with IndependenceCare.
Max, how's it going today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:31):
I'm doing very well.
Thanks a lot.
I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Yeah, thanks for being here.
We're excited to learn all aboutyou and your business.
So please tell us more aboutyour company.

SPEAKER_00 (00:41):
Yeah, I'd love to.
Thank you again for theopportunity.
I'll probably say that a numberof times throughout the podcast.
Yeah, so our business, weprovide um personal care
services.
Uh, you know, home health careis a general term, but we send
um aides, caregivers intoelderly people's homes usually,
and they help with um, we kindof consider our concierge,

(01:02):
consider ourselves concierge.
So whatever you need, dogwalking, um, you know, house
sitting, whatever, but most ofthe time it's housekeeping,
cooking, cleaning, helpingpeople with, you know, feeding
them, transferring from the bedto the wheelchair.
Um, so you know, kind of aplethora of uh services we
provide, but um, yeah, that'sbasically the nuts and bolts of
it.
We go in and just try to makesure that elderly people don't

(01:23):
have to go to assisted livingfacilities.

SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
So yeah, very sweet.
And I think it's so importantthat people can retain their
independence through agencieslike yours.
So the name independence carereally rings true, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
Oh, I appreciate that.
Yeah, my boss would love thatyou put that together.
That is that is the idea, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
Oh, very nice.
And how did you get into thisbusiness, Max?

SPEAKER_00 (01:47):
Yeah, um, good question.
I will say um home health careis not super enticing,
especially for um a young maleout of college, um, just
generally speaking.
But um I did have an internshipopportunity at Penn National
Gaming.
So for a while I wanted to um,you know, run the casinos and
whatnot.
Um, but as I got a little older,um my college roommate had

(02:11):
started um this um one oneoffice in um Pittsburgh Um with
our our boss, Philip Vyer.
And uh he called me after I'dbeen a few months in an
internship.
He was like, we could really useyou.
And you always told, you know,when you're a kid, take risks,
just do whatever.
Um, so I had no idea whatPhiladelphia or Pittsburgh was

(02:31):
going to bring.
So that seemed like a goodreason to go.
Um, yeah, and and the rest ishistory, and you know, I'll say
thankfully, I made that decisionbecause you know you probably
feel the same way.
You make an impact with thispodcast, and that seems to be a
little bit more where I'mheaded.
Um trying to you know helppeople out, make an impact on
society as opposed to making asmuch money as possible.
Um so just a differentdirection, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 (02:55):
Yeah, I I love that you're in Pittsburgh.
Um, I do think uh just a sidenote that we have better cheese
steaks over here.

SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
I for what it's worth, I think the Philadelphia
cheesesteak is a bit overhyped.

SPEAKER_01 (03:07):
Yeah, with the cheese whiz on it.
I just can't get down with that.
I hate cheese whiz.

SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
Yeah, yeah, probably seriously.
Yeah, um, where are we off of uhCarnegie Way?
Um Southside of Pittsburgh.
I yeah.
Some uh people don't uh somepeople I uh hang around with,
they they don't like um southside of Pittsburgh, but I think
Pittsburgh's the best all over.

SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
Oh yeah, anywhere in Pittsburgh's the best.
I'd say especially wheneveryou're born and raised here like
I am.
It's just like nostalgiaanywhere that I go, really.
So what are some myths or maybemisconceptions in the care
industry that you're in?

SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
Yes, some myths and misconceptions.
Um yeah, well, I'll say one mythis that um you know we encourage
family members taking care ofother family members.
I know there are some people whoget Medicaid and they think um,
you know, I can't obviously havemy daughter taking care of me.
That seems like a conflict.
I actually would encourage, Ithink that's the best.

(04:04):
Um, a family member taking careof another family member for
obvious reasons, they're goingto care a little bit more, um,
just innately, like nothing youcan do about that, just a family
to family.
They're gonna care a little bitmore.
They're going to stick around ifthe you know someone else
doesn't show up.
Um, so I think you just get ahigher level of care.
So I think more people shouldreach out and see if they can
provide um care to their lovedones.

(04:25):
I'm also a bit traditional.
I do think themulti-generational household
should make its way back.
You know, I think there's goodthings that can come from
elderly people spending timewith grandchildren, just lessons
learned, and then vice versa,they can be taken care of.
So that is a misconception.
I wish more people did that.
Um I would also say a myth issometimes when you're like we're

(04:46):
a private company, I the and Iwill just say blanket-wise, we
have 15, 16 offices across thecountry.
Home health aids caregivers areseverely underpaid.
Like they do tremendous work,and the best ones aren't in it
for the money.
It's just the reality, and youknow you can tell.
Um, and I think sometimes itgets put off to us, it's like
you should pay us more.
And just so everyone's clear,you know, we you know across the

(05:09):
nation, we get like two or threedollars more than we usually pay
our caregivers through Medicaidand with capital costs.
So, yeah, I would love to giveeverybody$50,$100 an hour.
I do think they deserve it.
I think they're some of the moreimportant people in this
country.
Just it, yeah, I think morepeople could get perspective on
how the trickle-down effectworks.
We're not the bad guy, we'rejust you know, here doing a job.

(05:30):
So that's those two would saythe big misconceptions.

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
Right.
And in speaking to the pointthat you made about more family
members taking care of theirfamily members, um, I'm not sure
if people are aware, but thereare programs that will
financially help incentivizepeople who are at home taking
care of their loved ones.
Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 (05:54):
Yeah, totally.
And they're constantly coming upwith new ways.
Like it's a fundamentally a goodidea to have multi-generational
of the same family livingtogether.
So there's going to be more umprograms, and you know, we're
trying to facilitate some aswell that allocate money towards
those sorts of things.
And just objectively, everyonewho watches this will say, yeah,
I'd rather be taking care of ormy sister taking care of my mom

(06:16):
instead of her being in afacility where they're
understaffed.

SPEAKER_01 (06:19):
Um, yeah, it's very much like a family first
mentality, absolutely.
Yeah, it should be.
Yeah, agreed.
Um, so as we know that marketingis kind of the heart of any
business, right?
Um, have you ever thought aboutdoing a podcast to reach your
target customers and your targetaudience?

(06:39):
Who are these people and how areyou currently reaching them?

SPEAKER_00 (06:43):
Yeah, um, I think Elon Musk once said, if you um
we don't you know we don't spendmoney on things that don't
directly improve the product.
Um so for in terms of marketing,um, we'd hate to spend money on
um getting our name out therejust for people to find out, you
know, they could do this better,this better.
So a lot of our focus is kind ofrepairing and internal fixing

(07:05):
what we have.
I think um our reputation willeventually get out there and
people like us.
So I'll say this no, we don't doa great job marketing.
But I've um when I was in highschool or when I was in college,
I tried to start a podcast forjust my friends.
So I've always thought it's asuper cool idea.
Um, kudos to you for actuallyfollowing through and making it
happen.
But um, I I do think, and thisis somewhat nuanced, I think

(07:25):
your idea is like just gettinggeneral people in the community
talking about ways to help eachother.
I think that's amazing.
So after this conversation, Imay have to consider it more.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
Very cool.
Yeah, so outside of work, whatdo you do for fun, Max?

SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Um, I really spend just a lot of time I exercising,
hanging out with my girlfriendin the sun.
Um, I'll say this getting intothis field, um, you notice a
lot.
Um, there people are gettingAlzheimer's and dementia at an
unprecedented rate, 55, 60 yearsold.
People are yeah, not able towalk and move as much as they

(08:01):
were able to.
So just seeing that, I know thatthe best things for longevity
are consistent exercise,consistent sunlight, you know,
good eating.
So I just try to learn from thepeople I'm taking care of and
try to actually implement it.
So I'm kind of boring.
I go to bed early and I wake upearly and work out and sleep.
That's it.

SPEAKER_01 (08:22):
Well, those are all good things, and you know, it'll
pay off in the long run, I'msure.
Hopefully.
So yeah, Max, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember aboutindependence care.

SPEAKER_00 (08:35):
One thing that you should remember about
independence care.
Um we're relatively young,except for our leader, uh,
ambitious group.
Um, we really care.
Um, you know, I want to housethe veterans.
We got a project down inArkansas where we're providing
housing for people who have uhbehavioral health and substance
abuse issues.

(08:55):
That is going to eventuallyescalate into providing housing
for homeless veterans.
Um, so I I we are just somotivated to fix the problems
because I I feel like ourfamily, my ancestors or my uh
relatives did a good jobproviding for me.
And I just think it's kind ofour duty um to try and set them
up so they have an easy way out.

(09:16):
Um so anyway, uh we really care,and you know, we're open to all
ideas, we we entertaineverything.
Um so I guess that would be thebig thing.
We're we're just trying to makethings work.

unknown (09:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
The caring home care company.

SPEAKER_00 (09:29):
The caring right.
Independence care cares, right?

SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
Very good.
And how can our listeners learnmore about independence care?

SPEAKER_00 (09:39):
Yeah, um, is it all right if I just you just call
me, I will field all your calls.
I'll just give you my cell phoneif you want.
I'll uh I'll take them all.
Um it's uh 603-520-7779.
So call me anytime.
Questions, concerns, you want toget hired, you want to be taken
care of by us, let me know.
I'll happily walk you throughthe process.

SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
Excellent, Max.
Well, I really appreciate yourtime today and having you as a
guest on the show.
We wish you and the business thebest moving forward here.

SPEAKER_00 (10:12):
Oh, thank you.
You're you're the best, Lad.
Thanks for the opportunity.
This is an amazing thing you'redoing.
Keep it up.
I'd love to come back.

SPEAKER_01 (10:18):
Oh, thanks so much, Max.

SPEAKER_02 (10:21):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnppittsburgh.com.
That's gnppittsburgh.com or call412 561 9956.