Longboat Key in need of home health aides, companions

The Paradise Center and Youthful Aging Home Care are looking to ease the need of homebound Longboat Key citizens — and they’re looking right on the island for help. 

Youthful Aging is a partner of the Paradise Center, and both work to combat loneliness among seniors, though in different capacities. The latter, a longtime Key organization, provides exercise classes and social groups that bring people to one place. But despite the buzz of activity, there’s a population on Longboat Key that can’t make it out of their homes so easily. 

Nearly 70% of the town's permanent population is 70 years of age or older, and the town's median age is 71.1 -- one of the state's highest. According the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 10% of the town's under-65 population has some sort of disability.  

“I’m glad Youthful Aging made the need more obvious to us,” Paradise Center Executive Director Suzy Brenner said. “There are a lot of homebound people, especially this year and the past year, people who don’t drive, who could use some assistance but want to stay in their homes.” 

Youthful Aging President Nicci Kobritz is starting a training program with the Paradise Center to be able to train some residents or workers who would become employees of Youthful Aging. It’s 40-hour training led by an RN, who then mentors aides as they take on their first patients. 

“We’re hoping we spark some interest in the community because as traffic gets worse, all organizations on the Key are going to have to figure out ways to maintain and attract workers,” Brenner said. “There’s definitely a shortage of very part-time workers.” 

In addition to traffic concerns during the season, recent changes to public transportation lines have made a trip to or from the island to the mainland more difficult to plan. A fixed-route bus line from Bay Isles shopping areas to downtown Sarasota was recently cut in favor of an on-demand ride service.

There are two types of aides that Youthful Aging is looking for: home health aides and companions. The latter is more of a relaxed role, just someone who is willing to sit with someone for a couple of hours to socialize, tidy the house, cook dinner or go to Publix. Sometimes, this is someone who relieves a full-time caregiver or family member for a couple hours. 

“It can be really positive for everyone involved,” Brenner said. “There are studies that show that it’s good for your mental health to help someone else. And from a practical standpoint, it might make your own issues seem not so bad anymore.” 

The trouble is that those jobs are usually short, and especially in season, the commute can be just as long or longer than the shift. Kobritz and Brenner are hoping to identify residents or workers already on the Key to become aides. 

“Suzy (Brenner) had a great idea ... as a senior center, let’s see if we can’t identify older adults who have this interest and younger people too who live on Longboat Key,” Kobritz said. “It could be a neighbor, so these patients are more accessible. A potential caregiver could be the more mature adult who is looking for a few extra hours of income to supplement current income.”

The other type of caregiver Kobritz is looking for is a home health aide, who provides a bit more service than a companion and may provide some basic health care. Kobritz and Brenner are hoping to reach retired nurses or other trained caregivers on the Key, people who might be missing the helpful aspect of their previous careers. A home health aide can make judgments on how a patient is doing physically, and — especially if the person has nursing experience — do some nursing procedures. 

“One of the many goals of home care is the socialization of people who need support in their homes,” Kobritz said. “Having people who live on Longboat Key become caregivers can help … mitigate that loneliness by offering that socialization, and these patients obviously feel comfy knowing it could be their neighbor willing to do these things for them.”

Folks want to stay at home for as long as possible, and sometimes the missing link is just a little extra care. Brenner and Kobritz want to get the ball rolling now on the program so that by season, Kobritz has a stable of local aides who don’t have to deal with traffic. 

“We’re getting to that point now where traffic is lower, so hopefully we get to the point next season where we have more (aides),” Brenner said.