Rabbi Matt Field asks: Do caregiving agencies have a staffing problem or a people problem? (E-36)

Host and Producer Zita Christian and Guest Rabbi Matt Field, owner of Right at Home, a home care and assistance agency, discussed how agencies such as his can improve dementia care by treating staffing as a human-centered coordination problem rather than simply filling shifts.

Care Standards

• To help agency caregivers be most effective in their assignments, Matt emphasized the importance of creating individualized, continually updated care plans, thoughtful caregiver-client matching, warm introductions, shadowing, supervision, and ongoing training.

• Supporting caregivers through fair treatment, mentorship, scholarships, and crisis assistance can improve both the agency's retention of quality caregivers and the quality of care the caregivers provide to their clients.

• In times of crisis, such as the COVID epidemic, agency aides can supplement the staff at memory care communities during staffing shortages or when extra one-to-one support is needed during transitions.

Access And Change

• Families may explore long-term-care insurance, Medicare’s GUIDE model, veterans’ benefits, Medicaid, and local respite programs. Unfortunately, costs remain a major unresolved barrier.

• Zita and Matt discussed creative policy changes that might create broader, sustainable funding for dementia care, such as a dedicated savings or insurance pool.

• Matt sees potential for AI-assisted scheduling to reduce administrative workload while preserving human attention for clients and caregivers.

• Matt's agency, Right at Home, provides dementia training for first-responders as an important community safety measure.

Matt successfully blends the compassion of a rabbi with the responsibility and industry knowledge needed to run a caregiving business. To learn more and to contact Rabbi Matt Field, go to his website: Chicagoland.care

Are you caring for a spouse with dementia? Have you written a book about dementia?  Please let me know. I'd love to speak with you. Send an email to: zita@myspousehasdementia.com