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Huntsville, AL - Seventy-nine percent of older Americans live in homes that they own, and most of them want to keep it that way for as long as possible. That's the reality driving the surge in professional home health care, according to Dee Harrell, founder of Accordance Home Care, which has begun providing services to the Huntsville area's aging population.

"The old models for aging just don't work any more – socially, medically or economically. People have to have help, but the traditional choices of living alone, living with the children or moving into a home often just don't suit today's needs," said Harrell, a registered nurse whose firm provides home health care to hundreds of individuals in Alabama.

Because of the changes – and challenges – facing thousands of aging baby boomers, Harrell expects her firm's Huntsville operations to act as a springboard to growth throughout the Southeast.

"When I look at the statistics and then listen to the stories from our caregivers and the people they serve, it sends a consistent and dramatic message. No single solution – including home health care – is right for everybody. The choices are tough, and the more choices people have, the better off they are," she said.

"Personal care can dramatically reduce the need to enter a nursing home. But people vary widely in their ability to provide this support because of their own jobs, children, financial resources and emotional capacity. We give those people a way to provide the care the person needs," said Harrell.

One of the biggest challenges in providing home health care is finding and training qualified people, according to Harrell. "The level of training differs by the needs of the individual we are serving, but anyone we send into an individual's home has to be a nurturing, caring individual of impeccable character. That comes ahead of everything else," said Harrell.

SOURCE: Accordance Home Care