For Beth Sabo, tending to the needs of her parents, both in their nineties and with various physical and cognitive health needs, revealed the limited resources for families in similar situations. This revelation inspired the Little Rock native to launch Tailored Elder Care earlier this year to help fill the gaps in the continuum of services for seniors within our community.
“I came out of the corporate world where I had been for thirty years,” she says. “We moved to Fort Smith specifically because my elderly parents were here. My father is ninety-three, and my mother is ninety; Dad has dementia, and Mother has chronic pain.
“In navigating those issues with them, I came to understand there was a gap in what people needed. I founded Tailored Elder Care because I believe people should be able to get the care they need that fits them best.”
Beth, a certified nursing assistant, designed Tailored Elder Care to be flexible and offer a range of services. These include medication management, companionship, home health care, housekeeping, and weekly family updates on a loved one’s activity level and physical or cognitive state.
Beth says she often finds herself cast as a surrogate family member in service to her clients. “Many peoples’ families don’t live here, or they are here, and they’re working, or they have kids and activities and whatnot,” she says. “One of the things I’m excited about is being able to give notes from the doctor to the family and provide weekly updates to the family.”
Beth says the overarching vision for the business is to enable people who wish to stay in their homes to do so longer and to keep those in assisted living communities from having to move into a full-time skilled care facility.
“Take doctor’s visits, something I feel strongly about,” she says. “It was frustrating when I didn’t live near my parents because I would have to rely on my mother to tell me what happened at the doctor’s appointment. She could barely remember most of it.”
Although recently opened, Beth already has her eyes on growth and is actively looking to hire and expand her team of caregivers. She’s also networked extensively to bring her vision for delivering compassionate, customized care to those who need it.
“I talk to a lot of people, starting with friends and family and other people I know who have senior parents and are trying to navigate the gaps in resources and services,” she says. “I know what those were for my parents, but everyone’s situation differs. I want to fill as many of those gaps as possible.”
For more information, please visit tailoredeldercare.com.
WORDS Dwain Hebda
IMAGES courtesy Tailored Elder Care
