"Our mission is to ensure a better quality of life for our elderly clients and their families by providing dependable and affordable care," says Richard P. Campagna, who became Owner and President of the Hacienda Senior Helpers franchise in November 2017. "We are a trusted and respected organization that takes a responsible role in supporting our clients and their families, our employees, and our community. I feel our simplified mission is to ensure the safety and comfort of our clients in their own homes and to relieve the care burden on their families."

Senior Helpers can provide a full range of care and companionship from a short to an extended period of time. "Our service can be as little as a one-hour safety check-in to twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week," notes Campagna, who joined the care industry after being a caregiver for his late wife. After her death, he left the East Coast and a career in insurance to be closer to his sons.

Campagna was attracted to a Senior Helpers franchise because the service allows clients to remain safe and comfortable in their own homes. The company makes that possible by providing a broad variety of care-related services, including light housekeeping, meal preparation, and transportation to doctors' appointments or shopping as well as personal care such as bathing, dressing, and incontinence care.

"It's really our employees that make us special," says Campagna. "Our Home Care Aides are caring individuals who often connect on very personal level with our clients. We can be that caring family member when the family can't."

Senior Helpers partnered with Teepa Snow, one of America's leading educators on dementia, to develop an Alzheimer's program with useful techniques and training models that now are used by families and professionals working with dementia clients and family members throughout the world, according to Campagna. Through this program Senior Helpers has developed tools and educational videos that explain what characteristics people can expect from their loved ones in various stages of dementia, and what strategies work best in different stages.

The need for home care services is growing rapidly as the population of seniors continues to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be 40% growth within this industry between 2016 and 2026, according to Campagna.

"Home care represents a lower cost alternative and allows senior to age at home," he says. "However, home care is predominantly private pay as Medicare and Medicaid do not currently cover these services. Long term care insurance will cover home care, and I would encourage people to investigate this coverage while they are still young enough to qualify for coverage."

The Hacienda area is a key business center and was an obvious choice to locate the franchise, says Campagna, who also owns the Moraga Senior Helpers franchise. "Essentially, we service the entire area along Route 24 from Orinda to Walnut Creek and south along 680 and 880 to Union City." The Senior Helpers company has more than 300 locations throughout the US, Canada, and Australia.

For more information about Senior Helpers, visit www.seniorhelpers.com/pleasanton.