Ten years ago, I came across an article in my University of Manitoba Alumni Journal about a new service designed to enable elderly individuals to continue living independently in their own home. The article caught my attention, as I had an elderly Aunt who at the age of 90 (although living independently) was experiencing serious mobility issues and was unable to get out as often as she would have liked. Living in Vancouver and working full time afforded me little opportunity to step in and help her out.
The service described in the article seemed to be the perfect answer! After a lengthy telephone conversation with the owner, I decided to take a chance and engaged the services of the Winnipeg based ‘Comforts Of Home Care’. The agreed upon arrangement was to pick up my Aunt once every two weeks and take her wherever she would like to go: shopping, visiting with a friend, traveling to the cemetery or, what she was really missing most was going out for lunch.
The tricky part however was how best to approach this with my extraordinarily independent Aunt (I’m sure many can relate to this). I decided to best broach the subject by disguising it as a gift for every conceivable gift giving opportunity – birthday, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, etc. Not knowing how to refuse a gift, which incidentally was not only from me, but from my daughters as well, she agreed to give it a try. This arrangement turned out to be all I had hoped it would be. My Aunt completely enjoyed the caregivers assigned to her and very much looked forward to her bi-weekly outings (lunch dates). I could not have been happier with the service she received and there is little doubt in my mind that this helped to prolong her life. My Aunt lived to be 96 and until the last four months of her life continued to live on her own.
To say I was impressed with the results of the home care services that enabled my Aunt to remain in her own home would be an understatement! Indeed, that experience has been the inspiration for my two daughters and I to create Aging My Way Home Care Inc. Our commitment is to provide the very best in-home care services. It is widely recognized that as people age, the longer they can remain in their own home the healthier and happier they will continue to be, and they will also live longer.
Our primary goal is to work closely with our clients and their families to determine what services will best meet their individual needs so they continue to live as long as possible in their home. Dorothy’s words ring as true today as they did when Frank Baum wrote them in 1900: “There is no place like home” (The Wonderful World of Oz; 1900).
— Roberta Leslie, CEO
“There’s nothing like family”
Roberta Leslie, BHE, MEd
Co-owner, CEO
Rebecca Leslie, BA Psychology
Co-owner, Director of Operations