Christina Bird, of Paradox, spent nearly 20 years as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), working in long-term health care facilities. Originally from Paradox, she left for a while, but moved back when her family needed her more. She's spent the last 16 years working in Grand Junction, commuting for a long-term health care job.
Now, she’s announcing to local communities that she will be doing home care for people — not home health care, however — for those in Paradox, Bedrock, Nucla, Naturita and Redvale.
“It’s for basic needs to have comfort in their own home,” Bird told the Forum in an interview last week.
Her new business’ name, Stay at Home Sweet Home, LLC, expresses that mission.
Services include meal planning and preparation, supervised medication regimens and organizing pills, transportation to get prescriptions or see a doctor, laundry and other household duties — light housekeeping, she said — plus grocery shopping and help with bathing and grooming. She can also help identify hazards in the home, assessing fall risks.
“So keeping them comfortable, not doing everything for them, but with them, so they can maintain their independence,” she said.
Bird told the Forum there are home health care agencies around, and she is not trying to undermine their existence or take their clientele. What she’s doing is a preliminary step, until more care is needed.
She said nursing homes, too, may be 100 miles from where a patient lives; she wants to give people a good quality of life before they have to make a move to needing 24-hour care.
Bird can support the elderly or the disabled. She said she can do weekly visits, or come twice a week, depending on a client’s needs. She’s also available for helping a person who is doing full-time caregiving. If a caregiver needed a break, or to attend their own appointments, Bird can step in and give respite care.
“So they can do whatever they need to do,” she said.
Bird said the first step in her working with a client is planning a meeting. She’ll visit a home, meet with a family or individual, to find out what the needs are and then make a plan. Anyone who’d like to have a discussion with her can email her at mommabird94@gmail.com or call her at 970-428-7389. She has spaces available, and many have been supportive of her offering.
Bird agreed there’s an aging population in West End communities, and a real need exists for more support. She’s ready to offer that.
“Long-term care is a great resource,” she said, “but to keep them comfortable in their own home as long as possible … ”
At the same time, Bird agreed she has the insight to know when it might be time for someone to shift into a 24-hour care situation, as she did that work in those facilities for so long.
Bird told the Forum she really wants to take care of the whole person; it’s not about medical care or her LPN work. She said sometimes things can become compartmentalized, and a nurse does one aspect of care and a CNA another. Bird just wants to take care of the whole person, in their own home, keeping people comfortable for as long as they’re able to be there.
