Archive: Business & Technology

Families looking for an alternative to nursing home care for their elderly relatives now have a new option in Ithaca: a three-bedroom ranch that will be the first supervised home to offer care for fewer than five seniors in Tompkins County.

Redmoon Caregivers & Consultants will provide home health aide services and nursing case management services to residents at the home, located at 20 Perigrine Way. The agency partnered with Brookside Homes of America, a home-based care company in Erie, Pa. which recently purchased the home in Ithaca.

A groundbreaking for the project took place on Monday, March 9.

"We're letting people age in place," says Joe Soto, co-founder of Redmoon. "We're taking the institutional flavor out of it and creating more of a homelike environment."

The seniors who will live in the home will receive round-the-clock supervision from certified home health aides, while registered nurses will be called in as needed. The home is designed for seniors with any type of disability, including mild to severe dementia.

"The good thing is that in a small setting, we can manage challenging people in a way that you can't in a larger setting," says Robin Soto, a registered nurse who founded Redmoon with her partner in 2004.

Another advantage of living in a smaller home is that the staff will be able to tailor activities and mealtimes to the needs of the residents. If the seniors would like to cook, garden or make crafts, the staff will create activities that cater to their interests.

The home that will be used for the project was formerly rehabilitated to accommodate a handicapped resident, so it was already equipped with a ramp leading to the front door. The kitchen and bathrooms are also handicapped-accessible for residents in wheelchairs.

The main benefit for the residents, however, is the intimate atmosphere the home will offer. "With a smaller patient-caregiver ratio, you can definitely give the individual more attention and time," Robin Soto says. "They will receive much better care, and that will improve the quality of their lives."

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