Caregiver Rekindles Holiday Spirit and More for Client

ST. LOUIS, MO, December 31, 2010 (Press-News.org) Home Care Assistance St. Louis, a leading international provider of non-medical, in-home senior care, recognizes Mia Hale this month for her compassion and commitment to her client. The client, Pete, was a 56-year-old man with disabilities that lived alone, felt abandoned and disconnected since his mother had recently moved into a skilled nursing facility and did not have any reason to change this attitude. Relying on training she had received in the Balanced Care Method , Mia was able to re-instill hope and happiness in Pete's life, primarily because of her diligence and encouragement to reconnect him with the outside world. The initiative that Mia took to make her client's life better was exceptionally admiral and exemplifies the high standard of quality care we strive for at Home Care Assistance.

"Mia's work with Pete is a terrific example of the impact and connection a caregiver can make on someone's life," said Jeff Schweikert President and CEO of Home Care Assistance St. Louis. "Because of Mia, Pete now is reconnected with the outside world and, as a result, is very happy and has purpose."

When Mia first started caring for Pete, he was disconnected with the outside world and unmotivated to make any changes to his attitude. Therefore, Mia made it a priority to determine which activities Pete enjoyed that would get him out of his apartment and allow him to interact with others. After discovering that Pete loved Christmas, Mia drove him around to see neighborhood lights, and from there, encouraged him to help decorate his apartment complex. He loved decorating and interacting with the other residents and shortly thereafter decorated his own apartment with Mia's help, complete with a tree. Through this succession of events, Pete's attitude did a 180. He is now a very happy individual who laughs, smiles and participates actively in his community - thanks to Mia's encouragement and support.

"Pete's resurgence into the community after living a life filled with loneliness and little social interaction was incredible to watch," said Mia Hale, Home Care Assistance St. Louis caregiver. "The fact that his days are now filled with friends and laughter makes me so happy. It is the best gift I could have received this year."

Mia, like all other Home Care Assistance caregivers, was trained in The Balanced Care Method, a proprietary program based on elder studies in the Okinawa region of Japan where life spans over 100 years are not unusual. Those in their 70s, 80s and beyond, enjoy incredibly good health, independence and have the least amount of diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia and Parkinson's. The Balanced Care Method is comprised of five key components: physical activity, healthy diet, mental stimulation, maintaining social ties, calmness and purpose. It is these factors that Mia used as her foundation to encourage Pete to get outdoors and reconnect with his community, which in turn provided him a new calm and gave him a larger purpose in his life.

For more information on Home Care Assistance or The Balanced Care Method, please visit http://www.homecareassistance.com or http://www.balancedcaremethod.com. You can also call 1-866-4-LiveIn or 314-863-8989.

ABOUT HOME CARE ASSISTANCE OF ST. LOUIS
Home Care Assistance of St. Louis is in its fifth year of operation providing in-home hourly and live-in caregivers across the greater St. Louis area on both sides of the river. Since opening, Home Care Assistance of St. Louis has provided care to hundreds of clients using its revolutionary Balanced Care Method and their highly trained caregivers for those requiring Lifestyle Care or Bedbound Care on either a temporary or long term basis. The firm has recently added both Hospital Sitters and Telehealth to its portfolio of services.

ABOUT HOME CARE ASSISTANCE
Home Care Assistance, founded in 2002, is a leading international provider of non-medical, in-home senior care with over 50 locations throughout North America. Serving as a comprehensive alternative to a nursing home or assisted living facility for older adults, our mission is to provide the highest quality and most reliable in-home care services. Home Care Assistance successfully operates as North America's preferred brand for in-home care, maintaining an intimate and personal rapport with each client. Here at Home Care Assistance we are dedicated to finding the highest caliber caregivers who we expertly match with the right recipient based on his or her needs. In addition, we do not require long-term contracts for services and remain on-call 24 hours a day. For more information, please contact Home Care Assistance at 1-866-4-LIVE-IN, or visit online at: http://www.homecareassistance.com.