Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What happens if my scheduled caregiver cannot make it to my home?
Life happens. People get sick, go on vacation, have family emergencies, etc. Our caregivers are not immune to life’s curve balls. Through the use of advanced notification software, we provide assurance that clients and families are cared for in a timely manner, in turn offering peace of mind that your loved ones are well cared for. If your scheduled caregiver is unable to make it to your visit we will work with you and/or your family to ensure your needs are met.
How are your caregivers trained?
To ensure quality care, we hire certified nursing assistants or require our employees to complete a caregiver training program within the first 60 days of employment. We also have a thorough mentoring program that allows new caregivers to learn from seasoned caregivers.
How soon can home care services start?
Kore Cares understands that for many clients and families seeking in-home care, the need for additional services can occur with little notice. To ensure we can effectively meet your home care needs, we kindly request that you provide us with as much advance notice as possible. Contact us today to discuss your home care needs, and we’ll work together to determine the best start date for your services. Request a consultation now.
How are your services communicated to caregivers?
Kore Cares has a comprehensive software system that allows timely updates to caregivers and an option for clients and client family members to access information regarding services provided via the online family portal. Our goal is to take away the fear that your loved one will ever fall through the cracks as can sometimes happen with other home care agencies. Every client matters to us and we take that responsibility very seriously.
What is your owners’ experience in the private duty home care industry?
Kore Cares' founder has more than 20 years of geriatric care experience in the Sioux Falls area. The founder Gabrielle, has extensive knowledge in the private duty home care industry. Gabrielle worked for one of the largest non-profit senior care organizations in the nation helping them acquire and start 11 private duty agencies in 8 states. She is an active member of national private duty home care organizations and has collaborated with some of the nation’s top home care agency owners to learn from one another, discuss best practices and advocate for necessary industry reform. The work of Kore Cares isn’t just a job for Gabrielle, it is a passion and calling.
Is the care plan tailored to your needs?
Each individual is unique and therefore each home care service plan will be customized to client preferences. Our in-home care services are customized to client preferences. We approach every situation on a case-by-case basis to help you set individualized goals for your care.
Need additional assistance?
Did we fail to answer your question or would you like to learn more about Kore Cares and our in-home care services in Aberdeen, Mitchell, Sioux Falls, and Yankton, SD? Please contact us and one of our team members will get back to you shortly.
How do I talk to a loved one about home care ?
Talking to a loved one about the need for home care can be a difficult conversation to have. Listen to Carey and Shirley speak about their experience from considering home care, initially meeting with Kore Cares, starting services and on with one of their caregivers, Jeanette. The conversation in the video below highlights the importance of good communication from the beginning and finding a home care agency near you that will make all the difference in the care of your loved one. You can also read our blog on How to talk to a Loved one about Starting Home Care or watch our video on Youtube for more tips!
When should someone start home care?
Most families call after a fall or noticeable weight loss. By then the situation is urgent. Starting six months earlier, when the need is only a few hours of help each week, often keeps someone independent longer. Housekeeping, companionship, and rides out of the house do more than people expect.
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Often families call us after someone’s weight has decreased, there’s been multiple falls, they’re not living their best life. And if they had called us six months sooner, we could have helped them sustain their well-being and really enjoy life in their home.
I think people underestimate the impact that just helping with household chores, the companionship, getting people out and about makes on their well-being, and how much longer it can help them stay in the place that they call home.
Does planning for home care mean giving up?
No. Planning is what protects your options. We plan for vacations and cars without treating it as an ending, but families often resist planning care until a crisis forces it. By then the choices have narrowed, and staying at home may no longer be one of them.
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Sometimes people feel like if they plan for care, they’re making a plan for their end of life. They’re thinking about death. They’re giving up hope. And that’s really not it at all.
We plan for vacations. We plan what car we’re going to buy. But we’re so reluctant to plan for care. And honestly, being able to plan for care gives us options and opportunities. When you wait until you’re in a crisis, your options are limited, and you may not be able to go home depending on the situation.
So it’s so much better when people think ahead and determine what they want for their care, their long-term care needs, so that they have options, they have choices, and can live in the place they want to be, which is usually home.
How does having a care plan help my family?
A care plan is a gift to the people who love you. It means no one has to guess what you would have wanted while sitting in a hospital hallway. Your family makes an informed decision instead of a hurried one, and everyone knows they are honoring your wishes.
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When you have a plan in place for your care, you actually give your family a huge gift. They don’t have to guess what you want.
They know what your care options are, and you can make an informed decision versus making a hasty decision in the midst of a crisis.
How do I know I can trust a caregiver in my home?
Letting someone into your home is the hardest part, and it should be. You are introduced to your caregiver before care begins, not sent a stranger. The care plan and your expectations are shared in advance. If the personality is not the right fit, we find you a different match.
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Often people think that the scariest part of home care is having individuals in your home that you don’t know. What we do is we will introduce these caregivers to you, helping you build a relationship. We’ll also let them know what your care plan needs and expectations are so they can jump right in. And if for some reason personalities don’t match, no worries.
We can help find a great match for a caregiver or nurse for you.
How does Kore Cares match a caregiver to me?
We match on four things: your schedule, your care needs, the caregiver’s skills, and personality. The last one matters more than people expect, because this is a relationship, not a task list. Sometimes it takes a trial visit or two. We keep working at it until the fit is right.
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We find a match of a caregiver or nurse by looking at not only what time you want services, but your personality, what cares you want, and what skills those caregivers and nurses have. Sometimes we don’t know until we give it a try and see how the relationship goes or formulates, but we’re willing to work with you and help you find the most appropriate match that makes you feel confident in your home.
Do caregivers really become like family?
Our clients tell us they do. A caregiver who comes back week after week learns your history, your preferences, and what kind of day you are having before you say a word. They sit with families through hard seasons. That is not a service relationship, and both sides feel it.
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Many of our families or clients that we work with say that our caregivers become like family. They share a special bond. A lot of times we go through hard challenges, trials with people and we get to know them and we know their preferences, we know their journey, we know their history. It’s just like meeting someone for coffee and getting to know them.
So I think the biggest thing for our caregivers to do when they start a relationship with our clients is just to get to know each other and build that relationship and build that foundation. It’s fun for our clients to hear about our caregivers’ lives and journeys, and it’s the same for our caregivers to know and understand the journey and life that our clients have lived.
And so being able to understand each other and build that relationship really helps them form a team and become like family.
What do I do if I need home care right now?
Call us. If you are in the middle of a crisis, you do not have to figure out the options alone. Our team has years of experience with exactly this situation and knows what is available in your community. Ask us anything, even if you are not sure home care is the answer.
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If you’re in crisis right now, you don’t know what your care options are, you don’t know if home care is the right fit, please give us a call. We have done this for years. We understand your options. You don’t have to do this alone. Give us a call. Pick our brains. Ask us for advice. We want to help you through this crisis and you do not have to go it alone.
Is it too early to start home care if my parent is still independent?
No. Starting early is easier on everyone. A few hours a week of housekeeping, transportation, or meal preparation builds a trusted routine before anything goes wrong. Your parent gets to know their caregiver while they are still fully themselves, and your family is not making decisions under pressure later.
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Don’t wait till it’s too late to get care. It’s a lot easier to start with a few hours a week of housekeeping, help with transportation, help with some meal prep before there’s a crisis. Get to know our team, establish a good set of caregivers, so that way if something happens you have a team that you know you can rely on and trust to care for you in your home.
Is Kore Cares locally owned?
Yes. Kore Cares is locally owned and women founded, run by people born and raised in South Dakota. That means real accountability, because our neighbors are our clients. Our founder started as a CNA and a home care caregiver, and will help you find the right fit even if it is not us.
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Kore Cares is locally owned and women founded, and that’s important because you have local accountability. We’re your neighbors. We are the people that have been raised and born in South Dakota that know this community and want to take good care of the South Dakotans that deserve to stay safe and independent in their home.
I have extensive knowledge in long-term care. I started out as a CNA, a home care caregiver. I worked for one of the largest non-profit senior care organizations, and I sold telemedicine into long-term care facilities. I know the good, the bad of your long-term care options, whether it be nursing home, assisted living, independent living, or home care.
We want to help you navigate this journey, and we want to help you to find the right care options for you. And we hope it’s home care, but even if it’s not, we will help you find the right fit for you.
Why did Kore Cares start, and how do you keep caregivers consistent?
Kore Cares was founded in 2016 with two goals: be the provider families choose and the employer caregivers choose. Those are the same goal. Consistent caregivers require recruiting and keeping good people, so we invest in training, benefits, and support where thin margin competitors cut. Cared for caregivers stay.
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I founded Kore Cares in 2016, so this year we celebrated our 10-year anniversary, and a few things were really important to me when I started this company. I wanted to ensure that we were not only the provider of choice in home care but the employer of choice in home care. And one of the things our clients consistently say is important to them is that they have consistent caregivers.
In order to have consistent caregivers you have to have a strong recruitment and retention plan. So one of the things that we do better is we invest in our team through training, through benefits, through support. A lot of times in this industry, because we run on tight margins, other home care agencies will cut that short.
And that means there’s high turnover in this industry. We believe that if we care for our caregivers and nurses, they’ll provide exceptional care for you. So it’s been really important to me that we develop and train a team that feels supported so they can treat your family as well, maybe even better than you would care for them yourself.
What makes Kore Cares different from other home care agencies?
A few things set Kore Cares apart. We have been named Best of Home Care Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice in South Dakota for seven consecutive years. We have a real recruitment and retention plan, because caregivers who stay are what makes care in your home consistent. And we run a quality assurance program, so we do not just deliver care, we go back and check that it is being delivered well. That includes unannounced supervisory visits, a third party vendor that surveys our clients and our caregivers, and client experience visits in person and by phone.
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A few things that set Kore Cares apart is one, our awards. We’re the home care provider of choice and employer of choice for the last seven years in South Dakota. We also have a strong recruitment and retention plan and why that’s important is because it helps us provide consistent care in the home.
We also have a quality assurance program so it’s really important to us to not only provide the care but then check in to make sure that care is being delivered at a quality way. So a few ways we do that is unannounced supervisory visits. We have a third party satisfaction vendor that surveys our employees and our clients to ensure we’re providing quality care. And we also do client experience visits. So we go in person and call our clients on the phone to make sure their care is what they expected.
We go above and beyond to really make sure that our clients are well cared for in their home and get the care that they expect and deserve.
Has Kore Cares won any awards?
Yes. For the last seven years Kore Cares has been named Best of Home Care Provider of Choice and Employer of Choice, and we have been ranked in the top 10 percent of home care agencies nationally. Those rankings come from a third party that surveys home care companies across the country, asking our own clients and our own caregivers about their experience. It matters to us that we can back up what we say about our care with results we did not grade ourselves.
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At Kore Cares, it has been really important to me that we become the home care employer and provider of choice. For the last seven years, through a third party that surveys home care companies across the country, we have been ranked in the top 10 percent of home care agencies, and like I mentioned, have the home care provider and employer of choice awards for the last seven years.
It is important to us that we can back up our care with quality awards that demonstrate the team’s commitment to ensuring that our care is top notch in the industry.
Is home care regulated in South Dakota?
Largely, no. In South Dakota, non-medical home care is largely unregulated, which means agencies are not all held to the same standard. That makes vetting the company your job. Find out who owns it and who runs it, how they train and vet their caregivers, and what their quality assurance program actually looks like. Not all home care agencies are created equal, and there are no rules requiring them to do things a certain way. Call a few, ask questions, and make sure they are a good fit for you.
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We know in Sioux Falls and in South Dakota, there are a lot of home care options. In South Dakota, home care is largely unregulated. So it’s really important that when you’re looking for home care, you vet the company. You get to know who owns that company, who runs that company. You understand their quality assurance program. You understand how they train and vet their caregivers. Because not all home care agencies are created equal. And there are no rules or regulations saying that they have to do things a certain way.
So call home care agencies before you make a decision, ask questions, get to know them, and make sure they’re a good fit for you.
What questions should I ask a home care agency?
Get to know the company before you get to the price. Who owns it, who founded it, and why did they start it? What is the experience of the team? How do they train and vet their caregivers? What awards have they won, and who gave them? How do they handle quality assurance? How do they get to know you and build your care plan? What services they offer and what they cost matter too, but those are the easy questions. The ones above tell you who you are letting into your home.
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I think when you are looking at your home care options, there are a number of things you should ask a home care provider. I think one, it’s really important that you get to know the company. Who owns it? Who founded it? Why did they start it? What is the experience of the team? How do they train and vet their caregivers? What awards have they won? How do they ensure quality assurance? How do they get to know their clients and develop a care plan? All these things are important.
Yes, knowing what services they provide or what the cost is, sure, that’s important too, but I really challenge you to get to know the home care agencies before you purchase services from them.
What home care services does Kore Cares provide in South Dakota?
Kore Cares serves over 43 counties across eastern South Dakota and over 100 communities, with more than 200 caregivers and nurses providing hands-on care every day. That can look like housekeeping once a week, a shower every other day, meal preparation, or transportation to appointments. We also provide 24 hour care, in the home around the clock, from getting up and ready in the morning to bed at night and the household chores in between. Our nurses handle medication setups, wound care, vitals, health assessments, and coordination with your physician or pharmacy. We also offer medical alert systems that call 911 or your emergency contacts at the press of a button. Whether you need a couple of hours a week or round the clock care, give us a call.
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At Kore Cares, we serve over 43 counties across eastern South Dakota, over 100 different communities, and we have over 200 caregivers and nurses that go out each and every day and provide hands-on care to our clients. That care sometimes looks like housekeeping once a week, a shower every other day, meal preparation, transportation to appointments. We also do 24 hour care, so sometimes we’re in the home around the clock caring for every need, whether it’s getting up and ready for the day, to bed at night, and all those household chores in between.
We also provide nursing services. So we have nurses that will do med setups, wound care, vitals, health assessments, and help you with any of those nursing needs, even coordination with a physician or your pharmacy. We also have medical alert systems, so the button you can press if you have a medical emergency and it will call 911 or your emergency contacts.
We try to be a really full service home care agency. So like I said, whether you need a couple hours a week or round the clock 24 hour care, give us a call and see how we can help you today.