When Someone Needs Care at Every Hour
There comes a point when a few hours of help a day is not enough. A parent who wanders at night, a recovery that needs watching, a memory that slips after dark. When your loved one needs someone covering at all times, Comfort Keepers can be there around the clock, in the home they already know, in their own neighborhood here in Cherry Hill.
Comfort Keepers has cared for seniors since 1998, and our Cherry Hill office has served Camden and Burlington County families since 2007. We are locally owned by Jim Winn, a Comfort Keepers owner since 2013.
What 24-hour care actually looks like
Around-the-clock care means a caregiver is awake and present at all times, including overnight. Because no one person can work 24 hours, this kind of care is covered in shifts. That means more than one caregiver across a week. We work hard to keep that group small, so your loved one sees familiar faces and not a parade of strangers. Familiar faces are part of good care.
A 24-hour plan usually fits a family when someone cannot be left alone safely, when nights are the hardest part, or right after a hospital stay when the next few weeks really matter.
24-hour care or live-in care?
Many families who call asking for 24-hour care are actually a better fit for live-in care, so it is worth knowing the difference before you decide.
Live-in care means one caregiver stays in the home for a stretch at a time, often weeks. They get breaks during the day and a required uninterrupted sleep period at night, and when they take their own time off we bring in a familiar backup until they return. The value is steadiness: the same person, week after week, who learns your loved one's every need.
24-hour care uses multiple shifts so someone is awake at every hour, which is the right call when your loved one needs hands-on help in the middle of the night. Live-in care costs much less than awake round-the-clock shifts. Compared with a nursing home, a live-in arrangement lands in a similar monthly range, and the difference is simply that your loved one stays home. We will walk you through which one fits on the phone.
A nurse stands behind the plan
Before care starts, our seasoned Director of Nursing, Carol Feliciano, BSN, RN, comes to the home, sees how your loved one is really doing, and builds the written Plan of Care the caregivers follow. She keeps that plan current as needs change, with reviews along the way. Carol has more than 30 years of nursing experience and lives right here in the area.
Day to day, you are not left supervising anyone. A dedicated Client Care Coordinator, Charice Creecy, who goes by CC, coordinates the schedule and supervises the caregivers, so the responsibility never lands back on you. If a match is not right, tell us and we will change it. We do not always get the perfect fit on the very first visit, and we would rather you say so than settle.
How families get started
It starts with one phone call. Kyra, our intake coordinator, takes most first calls, listens to what is going on, and sends you a written preliminary care plan after that conversation, before you have committed to anything. If the situation calls for it, the nurse will come to the home next. There is no long-term contract, because this should not feel like a facility move. You can reach a real person at our office at (856) 857-6120.
Call (856) 857-6120 Talk With Our Office
Common questions about 24-hour home care
Is 24-hour care the same as live-in care?
No. 24-hour care uses multiple shifts so a caregiver is awake at every hour. Live-in care is one caregiver who lives in the home for a stretch, with built-in daytime breaks and a required nighttime sleep period. Live-in costs much less than awake shift care, so we will help you figure out which one your loved one actually needs.
Does Medicare pay for 24-hour home care?
Medicare does not cover ongoing non-medical home care like this. Most families pay privately or use long-term care insurance, and we file the long-term care paperwork for you and bill the insurer directly when a policy covers it. We are a private-pay agency and do not work through Medicaid or state waiver programs. Call us and we will talk through the cost based on your situation.
Can veterans benefits help pay for it?
Often, yes. Comfort Keepers is an official VA provider, and many wartime veterans and surviving spouses qualify for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit, which can help cover in-home care. We can point you to how it works.
What happens if a scheduled caregiver gets sick?
We employ our caregivers and take responsibility for covering the shift, so a call-out is our problem to solve, not yours. We keep your group of caregivers small and familiar so backups are people your loved one has likely already met.
How do you make sure a caregiver is trustworthy?
A background check is only the minimum. We also check references, our nurse does a hands-on skills assessment, and we keep detailed notes while a caregiver works for us so we can spot patterns over time. We are accredited by NIHCA to the same kind of standard a hospital is held to, and a registered nurse oversees every case.
