Home Remedy: Seniors help seniors age in place | News

Tom Neuman and Cindy Rekemeyer understand the term “sandwich generation” all too well.

“We are taking care of people on both sides of our generation,” Neuman said. “I was, too, until my dad passed away in 2021. We were raising three teenage kids and taking care of Cindy’s dad, who had a little bit of a medical issue.”

Knowing the need for assistance, the partners brought Seniors Helping Seniors to Marana.

“We’re trying to step in and help those families,” Neuman said.

“That’s a hard thing to do, where you’re managing your own busy life, personally and professionally, taking care of kids, soccer games, then going over to Mom and Dad’s house on the weekend, hanging out with them.”

With Seniors Helping Seniors, active older adults support their peers who require assistance to remain in their homes.

“Our clients will be seniors who aren’t quite as active in the community and need help at home,” Rekemeyer said. “We want them to age gracefully in place and not necessarily be in long-term care facilities.”

This is not about nursing or medical care.

“We’re trying to keep them out of ERs, keep them out of hospitals, keep them out of nursing homes and assisted living facilities as long as we possibly can,” Neuman said.

Currently, they are seeking adults who are interested in being on the active side of that equation. This is a paid job, and tasks range from driving clients to the grocery store to assisting with personal hygiene.

“We want to send active seniors to those who are less active,” Rekemeyer said.

“Maybe drive them to a doctor’s appointment, provide meals if clients are having trouble standing or doing long prepping of meals. However, we want to give them companionship and have those conversations, … just keeping them engaged with life.”

In the end, companionship is at the core.

“A lot of this is just companionship and socialization,” Neuman said. “Senior loneliness in our society nowadays is a real thing, it’s a real epidemic. Just having someone else there helps with anxiety and socialization issues.”

The partners want a commitment of four hours daily, three times a week, from the caregivers. The hours and duties are flexible; it all depends on interests.

“As part of the onboarding process, we’ll determine your interests and what you wish to participate in,” Neuman said.

“If you only want to provide companionship care, give rides to doctors’ appointments, or trips to the grocery store, but do not wish to assist with toileting, bathing or similar tasks, we’ll connect you with a client who requires only those services.”

Training occurs during the onboarding process and at least once a year thereafter. Pay starts at $17 per hour and may increase based on experience. The partners prefer applicants to have a minimum of 40 years of life experience.