TruBlue Total House Care Seeks Partnerships With Home-Care Brands

For senior citizens in the U.S., home care was becoming an increasingly popular alternative to nursing homes even before the coronavirus arrived. Now that the pandemic has ravaged many senior care facilities across the country, the upward trajectory of the home care sector is even more stark.

That’s good news for home care brands who provide services for seniors to age in place, but most homes aren’t built for senior care, putting a ceiling on the sector’s growth prospects. TruBlue Total House Care, a home-modification franchise focused explicitly on upgrading homes for senior care, is hoping to remove that ceiling by striking strategic partnerships with home care brands.

In an article on Home Health Care News, TruBlue President Sean Fitzgerald said his brand’s goals align directly with those of the home-care sector.

“Sometimes, people look at this as a luxury item, and it’s as much as a safety issue for me as it is a luxury item,” Fitzgerald said. “We don’t want seniors doing things that are going to put them in a position where they could fall and hurt themselves, which leads them to hospitalization or assisted living facilities, which we’re trying to prevent in the first place.”

While home-care providers feature an array of services for seniors, they are largely unable to ensure that homes are equipped to support long-term senior care the way that nursing facilities are. That’s where TruBlue comes in. 

Many of its services are designed to cut down on the risk of falls, which are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries to older Americans, according to AARP. Falls kill 30,000 seniors per year and send an older adult to the emergency room every 11 seconds. 

The company offers everything from Age Safe America-certified home safety assessments and handyman services to yard work, home modifications and more.

Fitzgerald sees a major growth opportunity for both his franchise and the home-care sector in the new, post-COVID landscape. Some TruBlue franchisees even saw a jump in sales during the height of the coronavirus crisis, he said.

While Fitzgerald declined to share any specific numbers, he said the owner broke the former sales record by more than 25%. And he only expects the upswing to continue in a post-coronavirus world.

“The home care industry is going to explode,” he said. “COVID really scared a lot of people as far as assisted living facilities go.”

Read the full article at homehealthcarenews.com.