November 26, 2024

Home Care Provides Comfort and Support to Decatur County Family

According to the Home Care Association of America, 9 out of 10 seniors would prefer to stay in their home as they age, yet more than 70% of seniors will need assistance with daily living activities as they age. Adult children often take on the role of caregiver to their parents, and most do so gladly. Even so, 55% say they often feel overwhelmed by how much care they must provide.

EveryStep Home Care nurses provide support and relief to individuals and their caregivers by offering in-home services. Karla Maxwell, who lives near Winterset, is grateful for the nurses of EveryStep Home Care’s team in Creston who provided care for both her mother and father.

“My dad never planned to retire. He had a bulldozer business and built ponds and terraces all over Decatur County,” says Karla. “One day he didn’t feel well and got in his pickup truck to go for help, but he never made it.”

Karla’s father, Frank, was paralyzed with a condition called transverse myelitis. After hospitalization followed by months of rehabilitation, he was able to walk with a walker but had other long-lasting effects that took a toll on his overall health. Whenever a problem arose, he would go to the hospital emergency room.

Karla and her sister Kathy were happy to help their parents stay in their home by running errands for groceries and stopping by to visit. But as their parents’ health declined, they knew they couldn’t do it alone.

“I don't think anything our family went through is any different from what millions of other families go through,” says Karla. “You just move from one situation to the next step and figure out a new plan to make it all work. It was a gradual process.” Though the doctor suggested home health care, Karla’s parents insisted they didn’t need it. When COVID hit, the search for home care services became a priority.

EveryStep nurse Katlyn Whirrett, with the EveryStep Home Care team in Creston, first provided in-home visits to Karla’s dad at his Grand River farmhouse. As Karla’s mother’s dementia progressed, Katlyn gave care to her, as well. “They dearly loved Katlyn,” says Karla. “She knew just how to talk to them, and she made it so much easier for us.”

As Karla’s father’s condition deteriorated, he began receiving hospice care from the EveryStep Hospice team in Mount Ayr and passed away in July of 2024. “I felt like my sister and I could be honest with both the hospice and home care teams. We both needed the support — just that reinforcement. We could talk to them with our parents, or we could talk to them privately. They helped us through so that we could cope and not spend so many sleepless nights wondering, ‘what are we going to do next?’ I always knew we had a backup. It was just a relief to know that EveryStep was there. I don’t know why or how people go through that alone.”

EveryStep Home Care is a nonprofit provider with experience and a solid reputation going back more than 100 years. EveryStep nurses across Iowa can provide a wide variety of in-home care services to keep you or your loved one comfortable. Our agency is Medicare-certified and Medicaid-certified.

Please contact EveryStep Home Care if you answer “yes” to two or more of the following questions:

• Have you been recently hospitalized?
• Were you diagnosed with a new illness or disease?
• Have you had a recent medication change?
• Do you need physical, occupational or speech therapy services?
• Are you at risk for falls?
• Do you have concerns with safety at home?

EveryStep’s home care professions can provide the following services:

• Rehabilitation.
• Infusion/IV therapy.
• Wound and ostomy care.
• Physical, occupational or speech therapy.
• Medication management.
• Disease management.
• Patient care coordination.
• Post-surgical care.

For more information, visit this page on our site.

If you or someone you know is struggling to find the support they need, please contact EveryStep at 515-558-9946 or complete the commitment-free, confidential “Find Care” form here. EveryStep staff will follow up with a phone call to answer your questions and provide help.