Home Care Technology is Preventing Caregiver Burnout!

In this episode, join host Darleen Mahoney as she engages with Mario Irizarry, Clinical Director of Palmetto in Home RN, to explore the multifaceted challenges of aging in place and caregiver burnout. Mario shares his expertise on innovative home care solutions, emphasizing the importance of supporting individuals who wish to age comfortably in their own homes.

We delve into the financial implications of retirement and assisted living, with Mario highlighting the average annual cost of assisted living facilities in the US. He also shares personal experiences of caregiver burnout, illustrating the often unnoticed pressures faced by caregivers. 

Tune in to learn about the advanced technology used in home care, including HIPAA-compliant systems that provide medication reminders and monitor vital signs. Mario also offers valuable resources for caregivers, such as reaching out to the local Office of Aging for support. Don't miss this insightful discussion on enhancing the quality of life for aging individuals and their caregivers.  www.palmettoinhomern.com.

SeniorLivingGuide.com Podcast sponsored by TransMedCare Long Distance Medical Transportation & GoGo Grandparent

The background music is written, performed, and produced exclusively by purple-planet.com.

https://www.purple-planet.com/

Transcript

Darleen Mahoney [0:30 - 1:15]: And today we are joined by Mario Irizarry. And I'm going to notate his different licenses and certifications. And it is quite impressive. Msn, RN and chfm. And he is the clinical director of Palmetto in Home rn. He has a background in clinical leadership and remote monitoring program development in the acute care setting. He has worked extensively in the home setting for some time, as well as critical and cardiac care experience in the care setting as well. So thank you for joining us today, Mario. 

Mario Irizarry [1:15 - 1:18]: Of course. Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate the time. 

Darleen Mahoney [1:18 - 1:38]: Yeah, absolutely. And I've really been impressed by your absolute passion for seniors that are aging in place and the caregivers that take care of them and looking at providing the best solutions for both to have that experience be a positive experience. So we're going to dig into that a little bit. 

Mario Irizarry [1:38 - 2:30]: Yeah, thanks. No, well, I think I love that term aging in place. It's something that at Palmetto in Home RN just sort of fills our cup. And so one of, one of our desires is to help as many people as we can in our market just age in place where they want to be, as opposed to being necessitated to go somewhere where they'd. They'd rather not. You know, the comfort of home is great, but with that comfort of home and then aging in place comes, unfortunately, a lot of life stress for loved ones and individuals that are helping to care for those, for those people. And so just a lot of work can go into sort of helping alleviate some of that concern. 

Darleen Mahoney [2:31 - 2:46]: Right. As people are retiring, there are more and more people that are needing different types of care. So you mentioned that there are 4 million people retiring this year. That's something that you previously have shared with me. That's a lot of folks. 

Mario Irizarry [2:46 - 3:51]: Yeah, lots and lots of people. The baby boomer generation was called baby boomer for a reason. And so there are, there are so, so many of them. And so 4 million people retiring each year approximately. And almost 80% of those people are retiring with some sort of health issue, some chronic condition that necessitates their retirement, you know, and sort of forces them to go into retirement. So a cardiac issue or some, some other related issue that, you know, makes it so they can't work full time anymore. And so they're choosing retirement. And unfortunately, the cost of retirement in the United States is incredibly high. The average cost of an assisted living facility in the US is $60,000 a year, and that's average. And so that doesn't sort of give a great idea of what the median is and so to have a person retire in a way into an assisted living facility, that is a place that I would want to put my mom or my parents. Oftentimes you get a lot higher than that. 

Darleen Mahoney [3:52 - 5:41]: Yeah, absolutely. And it definitely varies on location throughout the U.S. i know that I work with a lot of assisted living communities, and the rates definitely vary, amenities vary, services vary, and then also size varies because sometimes if there's. Sometimes the smaller ones are a little bit less expensive, and then sometimes the smaller ones are even more expensive. So it really is. It's like digging through dirt to kind of find the best fit. If assisted living is the choice that you would like to make for your. For your retirement. But, you know, one of the things that you mentioned is health issues is definitely one of the reasons that people retire, because the cost of. Or the retirement age, sometimes it's not a choice that people make because they really don't have the funds saved up or, or they're still actively working or need to actively work to able to put food on the table. So the choice of aging in place really is maybe their only option. It's not the chosen option, but it may be the only option. So it's really trying to navigate those waters in the best way possible. And sometimes that's going to need the help of family or loved ones or friends or whatever the case may be. So that's really one of the things that we wanna talk about today is navigating those waters in a way that doesn't. That doesn't cause caregiver burnout, because caregiver burnout is a really. Is a very real thing. And so it's really protecting that caregiver so that they can have a fulfilled, happy life as well. And then also that person that they're caring for that has maybe some of those health issues and that's aging in place so that everybody is well balanced in their dailies, right? 

Mario Irizarry [5:41 - 7:52]: Yeah, that's so true. Caregiver burnout, really, burnout is one of those things that sort of creeps up on you. You don't really notice that it's happening. But unfortunately, a lot of the people who are caregivers to their parents or siblings are in this phase of life where that's just not the only thing they're focusing on. They have a career, they have kids that are in school or college age, and they have, you know, active social lives. And the other things that happen that they're being pulled to in these many directions, and the honor and also duty and responsibility of caring for a loved one in your home can just sort of creep over the edges and provide this level of burnout that you don't, you just, you don't see it coming. And so I know, you know, from my own experience, my mother lived with us when we were, we had a new little one on the way. We had one little one in the house. We were both in school, we were both active in our careers, and school was just sort of a next level phase and so just a very, very, very active phase of our life. And while we were dealing with the consequences of dealing of those things, in addition to helping my mother maintain as much independence as humanly possible and, and giving her that dignity, we were just sort of, we felt like we were drowning in, in the sea of being pulled in a million different directions. And so in addition to that strain, there's also the financial strain of just trying to figure out, you know, we have, you have a new person in the house dealing with that, or do you put them, you know, help them find a facility that will work the best for them. And, and like you said, that wasn't an option for us. Just we, I was driving rideshare at the time and working at the hospital as a PCT because I quit my career to go to school. And it was just, it just was not an option for us at the time. And so figuring all that out and providing her with a sense of autonomy and safety at the same time was just a huge challenge. 

Darleen Mahoney [7:53 - 9:10]: Yeah, you've got all age groups in the house. You've got a little one, you've got, you know, adults that are still trying to do the school age stuff, and that's still really important. You still have to be really good parents to your kids and be involved in their lives. And then you have, you know, that older generation, which is absolutely phenomenal as well, because that older generation can provide so much for the younger generation. And I think so many, so many kids these days really do miss out sometimes on having that grandma, grandpa influence. Because sometimes I think, you know, in this country it seems like my grandma was always there. But I think looking back and looking at folks now, sometimes grandma and grandpa's three states away or they don't get to see them very often, or they're not a constant in their lives because everybody's moving around so much, everything is so fluid and the way that we live our lives now. And so I think it's a really good thing to have that, but, you know, always having it right, right on top of each other. Is it can be a little bit of a different story for sure. So I absolutely get that. And then, and then you're trying to do meals and doctor's appointments and then having your own family time that doesn't always include, you know, grandma or grandpa. So I think that that's important too. 

Mario Irizarry [9:10 - 9:58]: So yeah, all those things are important. And then just being able to go to work and go to class or whatever it is you have to do or take your kids who are going to your, you know, kids play and figure out. In our case, my mother wasn't necessarily safe to stay home alone. And so in those instances where we had to go out, we didn't really have an option. The stress of just sort of being worried for every moment that we were gone, like what was going to happen in the interim, you know, is she safe? Has she fallen down? You know, if I'm not able to get home for four hours and she's fallen down, is she going to be laying there in pain for all that time? And just a lot of anxiety that was sort of of built up in us for that phase of life. 

Darleen Mahoney [9:59 - 10:09]: Yeah, you can enjoy it. You can't enjoy like maybe a date night if you're, if you're stressed and worried and you just probably just don't do the date night because it's just easier. 

Mario Irizarry [10:09 - 10:11]: Yeah, yeah. You just avoid it, but. 

Darleen Mahoney [10:12 - 10:15]: Right. But you still need that. I mean, it's really important. Really. 

Mario Irizarry [10:15 - 10:52]: It's healthy Self care is incredibly important, especially during those phases. And so you can't. They teach you this in hospitals all the time is you can't give care unless you're getting care. And so like the primary thing you need to focus on is that the same reason why we put the oxygen mask on us before we put it on anybody else on the airplane. You know, they go through that spiel is you have to take care of yourself in order to be able to give good care to others. And if you're feeling, even if you're not conscious of that feeling of anxiety or stress or whatever that undercurrent is always, is always just sort of there and, and figure out a way to minimize that is super important. 

Darleen Mahoney [10:53 - 11:52]: And then I feel like that could also lead to resentment from the spouse who it's not their parent or even the child who is taking care of their own mother or even kids. I think kids, we can't go to Disney World or we can't go to this birthday party because we can't leave grandma and grandma can't come and all These different things. So there's sacrifices being made, and sacrifice is a part of life. And I have no issues with teaching. Teaching children that, you know, you have to sacrifice, but it should. You should have some balance with that. So if there's solutions to finding that balance that's affordable, I think it's a great thing to look at some of those solutions. And I know with senior living, there's always resources that a lot of people are super unaware of and how to access them in different ways. So I know that you and I have talked a lot about some different options, and that's one of the things that. Where you work. Palmetto in home health or in home. Is it just Palmetto in home? 

Mario Irizarry [11:52 - 11:55]: Palmetto in home. Rn, it's called, actually. 

Darleen Mahoney [11:55 - 12:19]: Rn. Okay. All right. And I knew that, so I was just trying to put some health or something at the end of there, but. And you are actually located in South Carolina. I love Charleston, so. Oh, my gosh, it's so beautiful. I lived there for a short period of time, and it was a magical experience living there. So there's just something about it. It's just. Just a different part of the country. 

Mario Irizarry [12:19 - 12:27]: There's just something. I don't know, something magical about the French Quarter and just. Yeah, downtown. It's a. It's a pretty. It's my favorite place I've ever lived, hands down. 

Darleen Mahoney [12:28 - 12:55]: Yeah, same here. It's just one of my very favorite places. There's just. It's just. It's very unique in nature. But you do also provide services that I think is very unique, and it's available anywhere as well. So we'll dig into that a little bit, which I think is very. I want to say niche a little bit, but. But your home care service, which explain just in layman's terms, what home care is. 

Mario Irizarry [12:55 - 12:55]: Sure, yeah. 

Darleen Mahoney [12:55 - 12:56]: We're. 

Mario Irizarry [12:56 - 15:37]: We're home care and concierge, RN services. And so we do. Home care is generally, if you need someone to come to your house, you know, three days a week, five days a week, seven days a week, but for small chunks of time, four hours or so, a caregiver, usually a CNA or something of that nature, we send out to the home and they help family members with ADLs, you know, ambulating or walking to the restroom, helping prepare small meals and making sure, you know, just have comfort and someone to socialize with for a couple of hours, even companionship, read a book, do Scrabbles or crosswords, that sort of thing. And then we also do some. Some Skilled nursing care on a concierge basis. And so, for example, post operative care for individuals where they might have had a plastic surgery of some kind. And so we'll send a nurse to the home to help with bandage changing and help people in any way they need for that. But the real niche thing that the space that I wanted to fill that I thought was of super value was, you know, the cost to have an actual caregiver in the home for 8 hours, 10 hours, like I did, work 12 hour shifts or more, or even overnights is prohibitively expensive. And so on the acute care setting, which is the hospital, they use these remote monitoring systems. And I saw some great value in applying that to the home space. And so instead of having a person sit there and sort of stare at your parents or your loved one overnight to make sure they're safe because you're working an eight hour shift and you don't want to have anxiety for eight hours someone can sit with them remotely and so they're being monitored. There's nothing crazy in the room. It just looks like a sound bar on top of a television. And they can reach out to them and say, hey, listen Ms. Bennett, don't, don't, don't get up, you know, or, or you know, please don't turn on the stove or the oven and give them kind of reminders of things to do to keep them safe. And if God forbid, something does happen, like they get up or they, they roll out of bed and they fall or something, something not great that you don't want to have happen, they can reach out to the individual caregiver, the family member directly, or they can call 91 1. We have a service where we can send somebody out in the moment as well. 

Darleen Mahoney [15:38 - 15:53]: Yeah. So I want to backtrack just a tad. So one of the things you mentioned is ADL's. So that's the term that we use in, that's an industry. So let's, let's kind of explain what that means to the average person listening. 

Mario Irizarry [15:53 - 16:21]: Sure. It's super simple. ADL stands for Activities of Daily Living, which just means everything that we do every day to care for ourselves. We brush our teeth, we put our clothes on. The buttons can sometimes give people a hard time. Zippers, we put our shoes on, we brush our hair, we fix small meals for ourselves and just the general activities of daily living. Baths. And we can help support with any of those. 

Darleen Mahoney [16:22 - 18:21]: Okay. So in home care in general. So your home care provides almost an extended level of care over what is a typical Home care. But your home care is offered in Charleston, South Carolina. But if we have a listener that is in Nevada or some other area, there's home cares available in all 50 states in a variety. And a lot of those home cares offer all kinds of different levels of care. So it's really having those conversations. And I would definitely look at getting some reviews in your area and referrals, that type of thing on the best home care in your area and finding out what they offer and what you need. I know the home care that I use. Utilize home care for both of my parents, kind of for two different things. My mom had post op home care and they did a lot of her ADL's. So she needed help brushing her hair, bathing, some of those different types of things. She had the same person that came every week for several weeks. She actually developed a friendship with her. She really enjoyed it. Yeah, they did some dollar tree shopping. They bought some things for the grandkids and my mom really enjoyed it. And my dad had a very short window that he had someone. But my dad's main thing in life because he was having some cognitive issues, but his main thing that he wanted is he liked to go to Kiki's breakfast and that's all he wanted out of life. So she would come and spend time with him. And that was a safety thing for me. So I have a feeling he watched tv, she did a couple of things, but he really did not want her up in his grill, to be honest. All he wanted that was me. I wanted her there for his safety. But he just wanted her to take him for breakfast. So that made him happy. 

Mario Irizarry [18:21 - 18:58]: Yeah, it's the little things. You know, I, I can think I have a few people in mind specifically. That's just their, you know, they're, they're 94 and, and 102. And their main thing is I once a day I go out to eat at the Sizzler because we still have a Sizzler, believe it or not. Or maybe it's a Perkins. I can't. But once a day they go out to eat there and that's just like the joy of their day. They do that and the rest of the day they spend, you know, at home sort of relaxing. But it's just. Yeah, it's interesting the things that people stick to that just sort of brings them great joy. 

Darleen Mahoney [18:58 - 20:24]: Right? Exactly, exactly. And he bought. He honestly got the same meal every single time. Yeah, I think he got the same waitress every time. He was a one trick pony, I gotta tell you. But yeah, but it made him happy. And that was what, you know, what she did so he could do his ADL's. He did not have any issues with any of that. It was more of the safety of is he gonna leave the stove on? You know, that kind of thing. So, yeah, so completely different than what my mom needed help with. So there's different levels of needs that people have with that. But the ability to, if you are having them live with you and you're aging in place and you do need to go to work, or you do need to have a date night, or you do have some different things that are going on. To have that video aspect where it's being monitored, so you can take that stress and anxiety and you can enjoy that time with your family or your spouse, or you can get your work done without worrying because you've got to be able to do your work without having that pressure of someone in your home and having some concerns. I think it's a great plus. I did want to ask you, so if you have that in your home, is that something that, unlike one of our other devices. And I'll spell her name because she's very nosy. Alexa, that you kind of feel is hanging out in the background even when you're not saying her name. Is that something that kind of turns on and off or how does that work? 

Mario Irizarry [20:24 - 21:26]: Yeah. No. So it's not at all like the name that shall not be spoken. It's actually 100% HIPAA, if anybody knows. That's also another industry word, but HIPAA compliant, which is a law that says all of your health information needs to be locked up in a very, very particular and safe way. And it's. When it's on, you can tell it's on because there's a light that turns on green. And then when it's off, you know it's off because there's a light that's on red, and so you know it's off. And other than when it's actively being used or monitored, which will be set, which is set by the individuals, they decide, okay, from this time to this time, this is when we want it to be monitored. And there's somebody on the other end of it doing that, and there's no option for recording because of HIPAA compliance. So only during those times can it be monitored. And so, yeah, never, never a concern with privacy concerns or anything like that at all. 

Darleen Mahoney [21:27 - 21:36]: Okay. I think that's super important because I think people feel like I don't want the invasion of my Privacy at times when I don't want the invasion of my Privacy. So. 

Mario Irizarry [21:36 - 21:37]: Yeah, 1,000%. 

Darleen Mahoney [21:37 - 21:47]: Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that that's great. And that's something that you can provide really anywhere. You're. Anywhere that anyone's located. Correct? 

Mario Irizarry [21:47 - 22:03]: Yeah. There's no limitations to it. It's someone. Someone comes out one time, sort of describes the system and mounts it to the top of a television and then that's it. It doesn't matter. It's all virtual. So it doesn't matter where in the country you are. 

Darleen Mahoney [22:04 - 22:22]: Okay. And is that something. So if you were to leave someone with that service at home, do. Are they able to do like the medication reminder? Mrs. Jones, it's noon. I just want to remind you to take your medication. It's on the counter in the blue bottle. 

Mario Irizarry [22:22 - 23:26]: Yeah, we can definitely do that. We can set up those parameters in advance. And the camera is actually so fine tuned that it can. It can look across the room and read the pill bottle to ensure that the client's getting the correct thing. That can be. I mean, it can be read from. From all the way across the room. It's pretty impressive. And there's another part of it too, for. I think it has the greatest value for clients who are really going through hospice care. But there's an infrared light that can be affixed to it, and it monitors micro movements in people's skin and it can monitor virtually respiration rate and heart rate. And that's some great applications to tell you. Okay, well, this. We believe that, you know, respirations are slowing down or if somebody. We're afraid somebody's gonna get ill, respirations are getting really high. And that's something we can, can clue a family member into the. Maybe head back home because they might need some additional assistance. 

Darleen Mahoney [23:27 - 23:28]: Oh, that's fabulous. 

Mario Irizarry [23:28 - 23:31]: Yeah. Technology is pretty incredible these days. 

Darleen Mahoney [23:32 - 24:06]: Technology is getting scarily incredible. Yes, yes. Every time I turn around, there's something new and it's, It's. It can be really difficult to keep track of. So really finding what you need and finding professionals that can kind of guide you, I think can be really important as well. I know that even in my job and the different things that I do, I have to YouTube so many things because I'm like, okay, explain this to me. And that's my best resource is for me going to YouTube just to understand what I'm taught, what, what people are talking about in technology. 

Mario Irizarry [24:06 - 24:23]: We look up all kinds of things. In the hospital, we refer to it as Dr. Google, you know, and so we just, We. We look up all sorts of things because it's. It really is impossible to keep on top of everything. And so you need people that are experts in their little niche field. 

Darleen Mahoney [24:25 - 24:48]: Yeah, absolutely. I'll never forget my first experience with thinking YouTube was amazing. I never really watched it. My Dyson vacuum cleaner completely broke down, and I was getting ready to take it in, and I'm like, I don't even want to know how much this is going to cost. At the time, it was a single mom, did not have tons of money, and my son, it was like 15 years old, and he said, I got it, mom. He went to YouTube. He fixed my Dyson. 

Mario Irizarry [24:48 - 24:49]: That's fantastic. 

Darleen Mahoney [24:50 - 24:52]: From YouTube. I was like, this is amazing. 

Mario Irizarry [24:53 - 24:58]: You can't replace a Dyson at the Walmart. That's a real vacuum. 

Darleen Mahoney [24:58 - 25:46]: No, no. It was a very expensive vacuum. And even getting it repaired was going to be expensive. So I was just like, oh, this is amazing. I cannot believe this child did this. I was so proud of him. I'm surprised that little booger didn't have money, have his hand out for money, because he's a greedy little stinger when he was around that age. But he didn't. He was good. He was good, for sure. So before we kind of sign off on this podcast, is there anything that we didn't talk about? Because I think it's just this is such an important topic. I really want people that are taking care of their loved ones to have the resources that they need, because the burnout is so real. And I think when you're in it, you just want to keep doing it. And then I don't think you realize the burnout is there till it's there. 

Mario Irizarry [25:46 - 25:48]: Sure, yeah. 

Darleen Mahoney [25:48 - 25:49]: And then you're in a bad place. 

Mario Irizarry [25:49 - 26:38]: I think one of the best resources people can reach out to in their local area when they're in this season of life, is actually the Office of Aging. Most larger metropolitan areas will have an Office of Aging, or at least the state will, and they will offer resources that are available to the individuals, some for free, some with grants, some will obviously cost. But just if you're feeling like you need a respite or you need just sort of help getting through the phase and understanding the complexities of this new life situation, especially when it is new. That's a great resource available to individuals in most areas, which is fantastic. 

Darleen Mahoney [26:39 - 26:41]: It's called Office of Aging. 

Mario Irizarry [26:41 - 26:52]: Yeah, the Office of Aging. Yeah. Most. Most cities will. Will have one. So I know Charleston has one, and a lot of larger cities. Charleston's not a very large city, but there's a lot of people here, so. 

Darleen Mahoney [26:52 - 26:57]: Yeah, for sure. You've got a lot of traffic on that one highway going in and out, I can tell you that. 

Mario Irizarry [26:57 - 26:59]: We do Charleston, you know. 

Darleen Mahoney [27:00 - 27:01]: Yeah, for sure. 

Mario Irizarry [27:01 - 27:21]: Yeah. But it really is our heart to reach families where they are and sort of help them help us honor the people that raised us and help them age in place if at all humanly possible. That's always the goal. And so we would encourage that. 

Darleen Mahoney [27:21 - 27:33]: And I really got that. Just based on your story with your own family and really what brought you to this business and the passion you have for this business and then the folks that you work with. 

Mario Irizarry [27:33 - 27:34]: Yeah, for sure. Thank you. 

Darleen Mahoney [27:35 - 27:47]: I really do appreciate that. So we're going to also include the link to Palmetto in home rn. So do you want to. We'll include the link, but do you want to go ahead and share what that is? 

Mario Irizarry [27:47 - 27:53]: Sure. So you can reach us at www.palmettoinhomern.com. 

Darleen Mahoney [27:53 - 27:55]: Okay. Don't forget the RN. 

Mario Irizarry [27:55 - 27:59]: Yes, don't forget the RN. RN is vitally important. 

Darleen Mahoney [27:59 - 28:33]: It is. So we'll have that. And then also the link will be in the description as well. And it will be available on all the apps. So you can just click on that and it'll take you right over to that website as well. And with that, you can get more information if you're not in the Charleston area, for in home care, to the virtual opportunities and the remote caregiving opportunities as well. So thank you so much for joining us today, Mario. It has been such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. I just so enjoy talking with you. 

Mario Irizarry [28:33 - 28:35]: Thank you. Me too. I really appreciate you having me. 

Darleen Mahoney [28:35 - 28:55]: Yeah, absolutely. If you enjoyed this podcast, please check out our other podcast. We are now in season five, if you cannot believe it, of our podcast. We've been doing this since 2020. All of our podcasts can be found anywhere you enjoy podcasts such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, or anywhere you consume your podcasts. Thank you.