Technology today is increasingly improving access to professionally trained caregivers, reliable hospice services and easing healthcare services to seniors and elders, says PC Gan, Country Manager at Homage Malaysia, to Business Today.
“We’ve gotten feedback from countless families about how the app has provided the peace of mind and real-time detailed reports of their loved one’s care,” he says.
Homage is an award-winning personal care solution that combines curated and trained care professionals with smart technology to manage and provide on-demand holistic home and community-based caregiving to seniors and adults, allowing them to age and recover at home with grace, control and dignity.
As a leading care services provider, Homage’s core services include Personal Care that covers Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Home Nursing Care and Procedures and Home Rehabilitation services such as Physiotherapy.
Operating in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, Homage works with care recipients with a range of mobility and medical conditions, such as dementia, stroke, Parkinson’s and cancer, helping them be more mobile and functional as well as providing social and personal care.
Oftentimes, Gan says they get questions on the difference between foreign domestic workers (FDWs) and the team of professional caregivers on their platform. FDWs are mainly tasked to cook, clean and carry out house chores.
“On the other hand, all our caregivers and nurses are formally trained and fully certified to take care of Malaysians from all aspects be it physical, mental and even emotional. Individuals would usually require nursing care or Activities of Daily Living care (such as hygiene care and companionship).”
Without skilled caregivers, seniors risk getting bed sores and family caregivers might also get injured if they do not know the right technique to carry seniors from bed to wheelchair. Caregiving is not just about taking care of a person’s physical needs, but also providing emotional support through listening, counselling and companionship.
Local caregivers are able to relate better and provide effective emotional support when speaking the same language or dialect.
Gan believes in ensuring Homage caregivers are remunerated above the market rate and they advocate formalising caregiving by changing the perceptions of caregiving as a paid profession especially when it comes to increasing GDP and women’s economic empowerment, especially when caregivers are primarily female in the Asian context.
“We realise the need to adapt early on with alternatives and localised solutions. For individuals who are not as tech-savvy, we also provide options for them to get care. Seniors using our care services can opt for a manual way of booking which is by calling our hotline. We don’t recommend it because at the end of the day, the convenience is really at the palm of your hands — book when and where you need it.
“As we age, we are not as agile or physically strong, hence why not leave the heavy lifting for support care to us. It is also often observed that we tend to become more impatient with those closest to us, hence our role in filling the gap in ensuring loved ones are able to preserve their family bond,” he stresses.
The early adopters are generally children (Gen X-ers and millennials) who are in need of care for their parents or their grandparents. It is an easy adaptation as it is no different from booking a car ride or ordering food at a scheduled time.
“The only difference is our services range from caregiving to nursing care to rehab services. The Homage app enables individuals to create appointment dates, get visit summary reports and even manage their payments.”
Gan says that safety is of paramount importance during this time, more so than ever because of the high-risk profiles of whom Homage delivers care. These days, Homage receives a high volume of calls to meet the need for post-recovery care to help COVID-19 survivors. It’s a lot easier for people to say yes to engaging care with Homage during the pandemic when they outweigh the comparative risks to public health institutions or centres.
“At the start of the pandemic, we were one of the first movers to roll out SOPs such as weekly swab tests for our Care Pros and app alert reminders to uphold accountability for both the people we care about and also the Care Professionals under Homage. Both are just as important as it involves the lives of families and loved ones. Sensitivity to people’s needs has been fundamental to our business. As a people-first business, we hold on to ensuring we safeguard our care quality — a seamless experience, convenience and peace of mind in all that we do.”
Penangite Tan Ainee who engaged Homage for her elderly father, says, “I signed up for the home wound care package for my dad who suffered a very bad bedsore. Though their Care Professionals are not the same each time, they have an app to keep track of my dad’s wound conditions each time. Each Care Professional provides a detailed report after each wound dressing. This gives us more confidence in their professional service. My dad is really satisfied and happy with their service. They have also engaged a doctor for my dad to review his report once a week. Dr Chua is really nice and friendly. He gave very good advice and details on the regime for the bedsore dressing. I would say the price from Homage service is reasonable for their great service.”
Another Homage customer in Subang Jaya, Shima Hussin, also cited how the app was helpful in the detailed reports of her father with dementia.
“Amazing service. The caretaker Firdaus is very engaging with my father and his observations and reports were really detailed and precise. My father looks forward to his visits and activities. The arrangements were done smoothly, the app was very helpful.”
