
A Virtual Home Safety Visit is an effective way to tap into the knowledge of an experienced heath care provider. All you need is a smartphone with camera. The at-home caregiver prepares the client about what to expect~ It’s simply the client moving about their home environment in their usual manner.
Here’s how it went for Lauren and her mother Marie.

Lauren has become the family caregiver as so many daughters do. She lacks confidence in her ability to provide high quality care for Marie, her mom, who slowly developed medical and cognitive challenges.
Lauren is a busy woman with a career and a family. She is anxious to make sure Marie is safe at home alone since there have been some disturbing incidents. Being a caregiver was the only work she had never been trained to do.
So she booked a FREE Caregiver Success Call consultation with the Informed Caregiver. She decided to schedule a Virtual Home Safety Visit. Her teenager agreed to make a video recording of the visit. A weekend time was agreed upon.

The Virtual Home Safety Visit
Lauren received instruction from the Informed Caregiver about what to expect during a Virtual Home Safety Visit. It was simply about Marie moving about the apartment with her walker, as she typically does. Lauren reviewed the instructions with Marie and with her teenaged videographer. Marie understood that she would be watched while going in and out of the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom using her walker.
At the scheduled time Marie was seated in her favorite chair. After brief introductions Marie was asked to stand up. She used her walker to move about her apartment. She went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. She walked into the bathroom, showing how she leaves the walker outside since the space is narrow. Marie remained fully clothed while getting into and out of the shower. Then she walked into her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She took off her shoes and laid down. She was tired from all that activity.

Recommendations
Lauren, Marie and the Informed Caregiver had a productive discussion. The Bathroom is a typical area for falls so important recommendations were made for bathroom fall prevention. It was advised that Marie should accept home services for cooking and laundry which are easily done by another person. Marie should get her vision checked since she had trouble seeing the wall clock from a distance and fumbled with her hearing aides.
A different type of footwear was recommended that Marie could get her shoes on and off independently. Other recommendations were made in answer to Marie and Lauren’s specific questions.
The consultation took about an hour. At the end Lauren felt much better about setting up Marie’s apartment for Aging in Place. She was ready to call a local care agency to inquire about support services for Marie.
Lauren felt confident that she understood the issues Marie was having and how to make her home a safer place to avoid further problems.
Lauren was aware that she could contact the Informed Caregiver in the future for additional consultation if Lauren’s or Marie’s situation changed.
