Care Across America
"Care Across America, an Approved Senior Network® Podcast"—your go-to source for engaging conversations and practical insights from home care and senior care experts across the United States. Each episode will spotlight industry professionals, and their referral networks, sharing impactful stories, proven strategies, and innovative solutions in senior care. This podcast is perfect for professionals, adult children of aging parents, and family members struggling with senior care choices and care.
Care Across America
The Compassionate Business of Caring for Others at Fresh Perspective in Southwest Michigan
🌟 19 Years of Compassionate Care in Southwest Michigan 🌟
Meet Shelly Nutter, Area VP at Fresh Perspective Home Care. For 17 years, she’s led with heart, building a culture where caregivers feel valued and families feel supported.
💬 “Our caregivers are the heart and soul of the agency. When they feel cared for, they give back tenfold to the clients they serve.”
Highlights from the conversation:
✅ Serving 6 counties across Southwest Michigan
✅ Caregiver rewards & recognition programs
✅ New Client Care Liaison role to ease transitions
✅ Innovative use of Sensei AI for proactive care
✅ Reliable backup systems for every client
🎥 Watch the full Care Across America interview here: https://homecaremarketingnews.com/19-years-of-compassionate-care-a-conversation-with-shelly-nutter-area-vp-of-fresh-perspective-home-care/
#homecare #careacrossamerica #SouthwestMichigan #caregivers #kalamazoo #michigan
View More at HomeCareMarketingNews.com
My name is Shelly Nutter. With Fresh Perspective Home Care, I'm the area vice president. Fresh Perspective Home Care has been doing business in southwestern Michigan. We are in our 19th year.
Speaker 1:I've been with Fresh Perspective Home Care now for over 17 years and I can't imagine doing this anywhere else.
Speaker 1:I fell in love from day one and I'm still in love to this day.
Speaker 1:And I'm still in love to this day. My biggest reason why is because I have found not only the kind of work that fits me and who I am with, always wanting to help people, making a difference, but I've also feel like I have found a company that has the there's the same morals and values that I have as a person, where I don't have to feel like I wear. Found a company that has the there's the same morals and values that I have as a person, where I don't have to feel like I wear one set of shoes here at work, one set of shoes at home. It kind of meshes and melds very well, so I can truly and sincerely be me from the heart, the soul, regardless, which makes it very easy for me to oversee and manage a business that's 24-7, because I feel like I'm fully invested in making sure everybody feels supported, cared for, and that's from staff to clients, to their family, all across the board, because we're all playing a part in what really needs to happen. We are all a team in that process.
Speaker 2:Tell us a little bit more about your service area. You said Southwest Michigan. What does all of that include? Because that's a big area.
Speaker 1:We are the most heavily in Kalamazoo and Van Buren County, but we have typically stayed within the six owner counties in Southwest Michigan, which are Kalamazoo and Van Buren County, Berrien, Cass, St Joe and Allegan.
Speaker 2:Wow. So you guys cover a lot of territory, so that means you probably have a lot of caregivers at this point too.
Speaker 1:We do, and obviously we're always looking for more so we can extend our helping hand to others.
Speaker 2:So that's great. When 17 years ago, when you got started in this business, was there a specific reason why you were drawn to home care or something happened in your life, or is it just you fell into this immediately? New.
Speaker 1:I've always enjoyed working at smaller businesses where you know everybody by name, there's a little bit more closeness, people aren't just another number, that kind of a thing. But I left a position where I did not feel the morals and values match within that business and within myself, and I had a very difficult time continuing to do that, and so I was looking for something a little different. I happened upon Fresh Perspective Home Care and I'm like I wonder what that is. So that's when I started learning and in hindsight I'm like I guess I knew what home care. I just didn't know like the formality and the profession of it. Because a friend of mine, a dear friend of mine, in high school her mom had MS and we would always rush home after school to relieve the aid, to provide a gap of care for her mom until her dad got home from work, and then we could go play, if you will. But I didn't realize what we were doing.
Speaker 1:I mean you didn't care of friends and family, that was just the norm. You just did that stuff. Yeah, absolutely. So it was kind of like in hindsight it's like I had experience but didn't know really that this was a whole business, this was a whole industry and it really. It just I felt everything fall in place and fall together.
Speaker 1:My educational background is in accounting and now I feel like, okay, so I'm really still in the accounting piece by running and managing the business. But I also feel like it's bringing in the people aspect of it, where I can make sure it's all balancing, make sure it all makes sense, make sure all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted for everybody, and then obviously quickly learning what it takes to be a caregiver and what's expected of a caregiver. So, knowing that we needed to wholeheartedly support those caregivers and stand by them and assist them in any way that we can, whether it's with time off, our own compassion, resources, whatever it is, because what they do is so unique and they just give so much of themselves to do the job that they do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yes, absolutely. They are the heart and soul of the agency, really, and it's nice to hear you say that you want to care for. You want to provide good care and service for everyone involved, including the caregivers, because they really are what makes a home care agency great, and when they feel cared for, then they give back. It's really.
Speaker 1:They often put themselves last at home and in work now, so somebody's got to look out for them.
Speaker 2:That's right. Life issues come up, and it's nice to work for an agency that really cares about what's happening in your life, not just if you can fill a role for a few hours, but if you need a little extra this or you need some time for that, or your tire's flat or you get your kids are sick. If there's something else that can be done to help, that's really nice. So, yeah, those caregivers are gold, and so we need to take good care of them.
Speaker 2:So when somebody calls your office, when they are overwhelmed, I always use myself as an example. I'm 54. My mom's 75. She's perfectly healthy, thank goodness. But if I wasn't in this business and didn't know, I would have some reservations. I wouldn't know if I'm doing the right thing here.
Speaker 1:So when somebody calls the office, what can they expect or what should they expect when they first connect with me, I ask them to tell me a little bit about their loved one, tell me what's going on and what are some of the concerns you're having, so I can identify. Are they really in these early stages or are they in a? Oh, this is an urgent situation? And I listen to them. I might ask a couple questions to get clarification or whatnot. Who are they living with? Some safety questions and things like that. And then what I first let them know is that it is definitely an overwhelming situation, not their situation, but navigating the aging and when you need help and how to get help and how do you do all that. And I assure them that I've done this for a very long time. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I can help get people pointed in the right direction or find some answers for them, without them exhausting themselves even more so trying to figure it all out when the most important thing is understanding, knowing, so that you can make the best choices for you and your loved one. And so I just share that with them, so that you can make the best choices for you and your loved one and so I just share that with them. It's very much from the perspective of information gathering versus sales pitch or sales pressure to close the deal, and I let them know I'll give them the general information on the questions they want.
Speaker 1:We do background checks and we vet our people, the training I do go through, what kind of the range of our rates are, but I let them know that typically the next step I try to encourage folks to do is what I call a meet and greet. There's no obligation and there is no cost. It's an opportunity for me to come out and do an intake so I can assess the situation, I can better understand what's going on, so that I can make a professional recommendation on what I would recommend. I share information about us as an agency, so the do's and the don'ts of what caregivers can and can't help with. That way everybody's exchanged enough information before having to feel the pressure of making a decision, and that's how I pose that first step. If they want me to send them some information, I'd have a generic letter from the inquiry basically saying those same things, because sometimes it's overwhelming information and having it in writing helps them and then we just go from there.
Speaker 2:And so if somebody calls and says I have somebody, my mom's going to be discharged in the next two days and it's coming up on as quick, how fast can you all get services in a home? Does it take 24 hours or a few days?
Speaker 1:So in all honesty, it depends on the timing of that call, timing of the availability of caregivers, timing available on my schedule Last week I had nine people. I was trying to get onboarded and started with services right away, so I couldn't meet with anybody new that week. So it really just depends. It could be a couple days to a week. If they say, hey, I need full 24-7 care, okay, I could probably do it up in stages. Or if you wanted to wait till a complete 24-7 team is put together, it might take two weeks to do that.
Speaker 1:And I do explain, if it's a bit of an emergency situation, we can always do it more urgently. But understand it wouldn't be mom or dad's normal care team, it would be just staff while we're putting that in place. Because I explained that continuity and how important that is and that's really what our goal is. But I also understand that there's an urgency involved that we just may need to get appropriate people in there while we put a team in place. So I kind of give them that option. If you want me to move faster, I can, but understand it may not start with the care team we're looking to put together.
Speaker 2:And that's understandable. I think people get it. If this is kind of last minute, you're going to piecemeal it with great caregivers until you can get that same routine of folks coming in and I would imagine that some people want to start slow and they want to do sometimes maybe. And what's your minimum? Do you guys have a minimum?
Speaker 1:Our minimum is four hours a week and we are okay with that being in one shift or split it into two shifts of two hours, but four hours a week is our minimum.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's really reasonable, because four hours I mean by the time you get there, get settled, help with a few things, get the kitchen cleaned up. There's just a four hours is going to fly by. It depends on what the caregiver needs to do.
Speaker 1:Sometimes that four hours seems intimidating to the client, and so that's why we offer two times at two hours. If that takes some of that edge of worry and anxiety off for them, we can work with that as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's great. That's enough time. Let's say somebody needs a bath or somebody needs just a laundry done or linen changed or something like that. Those little things are great in two hours, or maybe it's during mealtime so they're not eating alone or we make sure they get it. So I think that's really great for minimums. A lot of agencies have a much higher minimum and that's sometimes challenging for folks, but I understand staffing home care is one of the hardest jobs I think that exists. This is a human, very human and very compassionate industry, but it's also it's all revolves around people. So sometimes staffing can be really challenging, especially as big as you guys are and serving a lot of big space. You have to find somebody who's close to them, so you do a wonderful job of all of that. So onboarding nine clients in one week oh my goodness, that's a lot.
Speaker 1:That's a bit unusual. I usually try to do two or three a week, yeah, and some of these were folks that I maybe met a couple weeks ago and they finally were just making the decision. And then all of a sudden, I had one of our contract agencies. Yeah, and some of these were folks that I maybe met a couple weeks ago and they finally were just making the decision. And then all of a sudden, I had one of our contract agencies. They were like we've got all these clients and they weren't large amount of hours but it I'd rather let me just start helping people, because at some point they're going to need more hours at some point. We don't unage.
Speaker 2:So that's great, though, when somebody calls that, they're able to. I think to me what's important is that that if I were in that position, I'd want to talk to somebody who had a lot of experience, who had been around the block long enough to be able to say to me you know, it's going to be okay. This is what I normally see and this is how things usually work, but we can work with you, however. You need this to happen.
Speaker 1:I think that's really from a professional and from a human perspective, it's very I do try to share with them, especially if they're concerned about how do we afford that. I let them know that we work with a lot of different contract agencies that offer different programs, that I can share information with them to see if they may qualify. I do express I'm not the decision maker on who qualifies for what, but we do work with those agencies. So should you qualify and want to work with us, they just simply send us the authorization and we send them the bill for the work we do. So I do try to help them understand some of that. If they may fit some of the criteria for those resources as well.
Speaker 2:And there are a lot of different programs out there. It's very complicated sometimes, but you will know when you talk to somebody what you can recommend to them and they can go and where to find more information and find out. I think that's one of the biggest part of it is how much is this going to cost? Who's going to pay for it? And getting the answers to those questions are at least being pointed in the right direction, like you said, is really hopeful. It really takes a load off, a worry off too. So they call and it usually takes. It depends on the week, of course, and you all get services set up when the caregiver arrives the first time, do they? How does that system work? Getting the caregiver into the house?
Speaker 1:So when we have made that match and have a start date, we then confirm with if there's an assigned family member that coordinates the schedule, or sometimes it's the client themselves. We call to introduce who that caregiver is going to be. We go over the schedule again and make sure that they and we'll tell them a little bit about the client, like why did we, or the caregiver, why did we pick this caregiver for you? And so we'll share some of that with them, like whether it's their experience, their personality, whatever it was that we felt would make them successful with that individual. So they feel like they know a little something. And we also make sure we want them to know who it is that's coming, because we don't want them letting somebody in that does not belong in their home. That caregiver will have an ID badge with a photo of themselves on it, and that's typically how that goes. Sometimes they may have a loved one that'll say oh, I'll be here for the first shift just to help make mom more comfortable.
Speaker 1:But just recently, in the last couple of months, we created a new position called our client care liaison. She is our most seasoned caregiver. She's been with us like 12 years and now we've pulled her off of her regular schedule and we have her go out with a caregiver for their first shift with a client to do the physical face-to-face introduction. If it's an existing client and we maybe through transition we've lost a caregiver and they're introducing a new one, she again will bridge that gap and introduce them. So sometimes she's meeting the client for the first time as well.
Speaker 1:But we let the client know because we want her to know you and you to know her, because anytime you need a new caregiver she's going to come and help introduce that. Or if there seems to be a challenge going on, she's going to come in and try to help troubleshoot that. So she's kind of like the eyes and the hands of what we try to do here in the office. But it's also support for caregivers, especially if this is a newer field to them, because there's nothing a little bit more awkward than knocking on a stranger's door, letting yourself in, rummaging in their cupboards for their lunch, then getting them naked and putting them in the shower. That's daunting for your first visit with somebody. Just providing that extra support for all of them across the board, we've just felt like that is a piece that, if we're in a position to be able to offer. That might help people feel more successful on both ends from the caregiver end.
Speaker 2:I think that's a great role, and I think that's also something that other caregivers could aspire to do. If they stay with you long enough and they're seasoned enough, they could also help make some introductions. I think that's a wonderful role to have and a nice icebreaker for everybody.
Speaker 1:And sometimes if somebody you always get folks that get real comfortable with their caregivers, if somebody is sick, they're like oh, just never mind, just cancel the shift I can say I can have Wendy bring this person over so there's no pressure for you. And once in a while I'll say why don't I just have Wendy come over and help you today? You know, sometimes she'll bridge that gap, but it's just an extra tool to really help that person that might tend to cancel if their person's not available.
Speaker 2:That's great. Oh, I think that's a wonderful role to have. I think those introductions can be very important and probably takes a huge anxiety off of the caregiver as well. Meeting somebody new for the first time, especially if they're new to the caregiving in the home. It's great for everybody involved. So that's a really great role. I'm glad you guys implemented that. It's definitely something that people probably appreciate a lot, that introduction.
Speaker 1:I would. It's been a positive thing for us so far so.
Speaker 2:Great. So is there anything else about Fresh Perspective that you'd like to tell us that we didn't cover anything? That's about you?
Speaker 1:I will say I know, since COVID, people's backup systems have changed and their commitments to backing up have changed pretty significantly. A lot of it's due to the staffing stress or staffing being pulled so thin. We have really tried to maintain a strong priority and making sure we have a backup system in place for all of our shifts, and a couple of ways we do that is utilizing our client care liaison if need be, utilizing office staff if need be during our office hours. If we got to pull somebody because there's a short situation, then we'll do what we got to do last minute and then we'll do what we got to do last minute. And then the after hours we pay caregivers to alternate being on call in the evenings, monday through Friday, and then all day on Saturday and Sunday. So we pay them a stipend to be on call and then they get paid for every shift that they pick up as well.
Speaker 1:So that's really helped to solidify making sure there's always a backup available. And I think that's important because I hear a lot of folks if they're looking for a new agency or have not had a good experience, they're like, oh, we were never offered a backup and we do our very best to make sure we're always offering a backup. Now I tell everybody we also have to prioritize the level of somebody's risk and need. But if just because mom only needs help with meals and laundry doesn't mean she doesn't need the help, so we may have to look at doing it at a little bit later time or maybe the next day, but we will make certain she doesn't go without that help.
Speaker 2:That's great. I'm glad you guys focused on that backup plan because we always say when you hire an agency, that's one of the greatest benefits is that you can rely on them to have someone you can talk to. If a caregiver is sick, if their tire is flat, if their kids are sick, you can always rely on an agency to try and provide backup. So I'm glad you guys do that and some agencies simply just can't. So it's great to know you guys are able to do that for folks. That's wonderful. That's such a safety net. Really, you know what? I have a fly Sorry, I'll edit this out. A fly is suddenly flying around me. We don't have flies in our house, ew, okay, I think that that, honestly, that's probably that you did a great job. You did an amazing job of explaining your services. So I that's wonderful. So thank you for doing this and you did a great job, thank you.
Speaker 2:So what I'll do is I am going to edit this down a little bit, and I will. We will have a couple of different ways that we're going to. We're going to do this so we'll have the long version which is our conversation, and then I'll also divide it up into clips, so we have different clips talking about you, mainly talking about different aspects of your business and service, and those kinds of things. Ai is wonderful about dividing up these clips and making them stand out really nicely. So once that is done, I will send you a note to let you know. Hey, here's the video and here's, and we'll put together a blog post to go with it. We will post it, we'll put it on your website as a blog post with the video. We'll do all those things, gotcha.
Speaker 1:All right. So there, there are two things that I feel like we do a little bit I don't know if I would say unique, but a little bit more than most agencies in our area. One is on the end of our caregivers. Like I said, we really want to make sure we're taking care of them, looking out for them and supporting them. We've invested in an actual rewards program for them. That's awesome, and so anytime they pick up extra shifts, they are getting a thank you message and a reward. These rewards are points that accumulate that they can trade in whenever they want for gift cards of hundreds of options. I shared this with our clients and their family, because if they call and want to thank a caregiver for something they've done, they will then get a nice thank you and a reward of recognition as well. Or if, while I'm doing an assessment, somebody says gosh, sandy always goes above and beyond, like she doesn't just make sure mom is doing well and has all of her needs met, she really makes mom laugh, and so then again, that's another trigger for that reward system to kick in.
Speaker 1:We do that also with our. We call it our high five employee of the month, somebody who deserves a high five because they're doing a great job and we do that through that and then we post it. I think you see that in our newsletters and stuff like that. We also started a rookie of the month. So one of our new people who just come out with a bang just really surprising us that they've really just stepped into this position beyond what we've expected. We recognize them. So I say that because I know everybody tries to do that on their own, but this has just been a method that I feel has really amped that support and that recognition in a much bigger way than I've ever seen it before by the feedback I get from our clients and our caregivers. Thank you so much, for I really appreciated the thank you and the points.
Speaker 1:Clients now know that so they'll call on purpose, where before most people only called when they got a concern or an issue or whatever. I'm receiving more calls on purpose for the thank yous because they want to reward their caregivers and they know that's how they'll get rewarded. So that's been huge. There's also a referral package deal that they through the whole process of getting somebody referred getting somebody who's been interviewed and hired in their first hundred hours, their first 300 hours. Everybody's getting rewards both the referrer and the new hire so they're earning recognition and points for that as well, and our referrals have been more than I've ever seen them before with that. That's great.
Speaker 1:So I think that's a huge thing for somebody to know that we take care of those. You know those caregivers, so that because we want them to stay there to help you, it's not just throwing a warm body out there on a schedule for you. It is way more than that. And then on the client side, one of the really big things that we've implemented this year is a hybrid system of care care, for if somebody is a little bit leery and not ready to make a decision if they actually need care or not, they can utilize the hybrid piece or they can use a combination of both of them. It's an AI tool. It is audio-based only. I don't know if you've ever heard of Sensi.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. I love Sensi.
Speaker 1:So we have started utilizing Sensi and it has helped us feel so much more proactive versus reactive to when something occurs and adjusting that care plan or the schedule or the times or whatever it is. I feel like we are smarter now because we pick up trends and say you have us there from 12 to 4 and you don't get home until 6 6, but they really need that help till 5, because we're hearing some of these things going on or we're noticing somebody's falling more or whatever it is. Somebody hasn't moved.
Speaker 2:when they usually move in the morning, they haven't gotten out of bed or they're waiting later and later to get up. Yep, I think, being that it senses and it's not video, it's sensing audio occurrences I think that's a really great system and it really is. It's amazing how it picks up patterns so very quickly and knows what should be happening in that client's home and alerts to when things don't seem right. That is really cool.
Speaker 1:We've had amazing and wonderful experiences with it. So Annette has become our standard of care for folks. We don't charge extra for it unless they want it as a standalone, until they can decide, do we or do we not? Or let me see what kind of things you recommend after I've had it for a month to see what you think. So then that'd be the only time we would charge for it as a standalone. So those are some of the things that we are investing in for better quality of care and better responses to things going on in the home, as well as our caregivers.
Speaker 2:I think all of those things are people really appreciate. First of all, when a caregiver is obviously treated well by their employer. I think we all can agree that consumers really want to know that their caregivers are being taken care of by their employer, and so that's super important. And of course, the caregivers themselves feel loved and feel cared for across the board. That's great. Across the board, that's great. And then the sense-y part of it adding that little piece, that extra piece when there isn't a caregiver there even when there is, but when there's not a caregiver there and you can hear or sense or see or not see, but you can have that system, sense that things aren't quite right. That's such a great opportunity to help the adult children understand what's really going on. Or the family member who can't be there all day. That really is a nice addition to your services. So I thank you for doing that. That is, that's wonderful.
Speaker 1:But those are the things that I think make us a little bit more unique than just any other home care agency.
Speaker 2:I'd say you're right, because not everybody does all these great things. You really are taking care of not just the person who needs care, but everybody all the way around, so that's great.
