Celebrate National Home Care and Hospice Month
Celebrate National Home Care Month
November 2008
Who:ALL HOME CARE AND COMMUNITY BASED PROVIDERS
What:Engage in the opportunity to celebrate National Home Care Monthwith fellow home care and community based services agencies throughout United States, Minnesota, and in your community.
When: The month of November is considered “National Home Care Month.” The second full week of November 9th through the 16th is identified to specially recognize our home care aides.
Where:Celebrations within your agency, community, state, and nation
Why:
- To recognize your staff and volunteers, and referral network
- To celebrate the opportunity you have to serve clients in the privacy and convenience of their own home.
- To spread the word of home care and community based services through the voices of our staff, volunteers, consumers, and health care providers
How: Adopt a theme for your agency. Here are a few choices: “Compassion and Care Delivered to your Doorstep,” “Celebrating Health, Choice and Freedom,” “Home Care; Where Health Belongs.” or develop one of your own!
MHCA Resources:
- Download a presentation(s) on home care from the Minnesota Home Care web site. Located on the Resource Page Under “Power Points.” Customizable in Power Point format for your use with a computer/projector or to print for an overhead presentation. Personalize with your agency information, data, and logo. Visit MHCA at
Ideas for Celebration and Recognition:
- Invite your local chamber of commerce to add the announcement of your celebration to their web page
- Involve staff representation from all disciplines in planning process the ‘Celebration of Home Care.”
- Update your web page to reflect your theme for the celebration of home care and hospice month.
- Include a podcast on your web page featuring staff, client, and/or volunteers
- Feature staff/volunteers/contractors/board members in local newsletter or newspaper
- Live or taped interview for radio or TV
- Prepare grocery bag stuffers/fliers for one day at a local store
- Create table tents for area restaurants announcing your theme and celebration activities
- Create a home care trivia game for staff
- Schedule presentations throughout November to service clubs, organizations, churches, referral sources, etc. Send various staff with script
- Let your clients know that you are celebrating home care/hospice month and invite them to celebrate with you
- Host an employee and volunteer recognition and appreciation reception inviting the families and/or significant others to celebrate with you
- Host a reception for local and state legislators, local board members and staff
- Sponsor a professional speaker and host a community event
- Personalize your message… it is always the most relative and memorable!
- Recognize the caregivers in your midst that have provided outstanding services with care and competence
- Celebrate the office and administrative support staff who spend hours to make lives easier for those in the field.
- Schedule an open house for your referral sources. Let them in on the little known facts of your agency stats: number of client, results of outcomes of care, number of staff, hours provided, and the opportunity to meet the home care and hospice staff and volunteers.
- Consider inviting your key legislator to make a home visit with a therapist, nurse, or home care aide. Visit to locate your legislator and contact information.
- Invite key legislators to your office for; “Coffee, Cookies, Conversation, and Connections”. Arrange for staff or volunteers to share with your legislator(s) their insights to home care.
- Collect food items from home care staff for the local food shelf/charity in honor of home care month.
- Encourage each supervisor to write a note of appreciation to those they supervise.
- Encourage each staff to write a note to their supervisor in appreciation for his or her leadership
- Write a letter to the editor as a method of thanks for the media coverage and community support of your program.
- Create a newsletter for employees and/or clients/patients celebrating the opportunities to serve. “Share Your Story Of Home Care.” Of interest may be the history of your agency, examples of home care challenges and successes, and the vision of the future of your home care agency.
- Sponsor a “home care section” in the local newspaper “Telling Your Story.” (Remember the greatest “voices” in telling the story of home care are our employees, volunteers, and clients.)
- Take agency employee and volunteer pictures throughout the month at agency celebrations to send to client and referral sources at the holiday season time.
- Share the “story’ of home care with your local congregations by mailing a “copy-ready” ad to the administrative office and request it be placed in their newsletters or church/synagogue/temple bulletins.
- Send personal “thank you” notes to your referrals sources citing specific reasons you appreciate them.
- Purchase media space or time (newspaper or radio) to publish “little known trivia facts’ about your agency. Post the question one day followed by the answer the next day. Examples: 1) Agency first date of service. 2) Agency’s first year’s financial budget 3) Number of current employees 4) Annual number of clients served with number of hours 5) Leading diagnosis of clients receiving home care 6) Most recent program expansion 7) List of the different disciplines of service provided through your agency. Develop a strategy for offering a door prize at the end of the month drawn from the “winner’s circle.”
- Invite several clients or their families to share in a panel discussion for your staff on their perspectives of home care and community based services.
- Distribute copies of the summary of your patient satisfaction questionnaire to staff empowering them in their continued endeavor.
- Visit the MHCA Web Site at and the National Home Care Association (NAHC) at for more ideas and information.
Share your plans and success with the MHCA marketing team by emailing