Why Human Connection Matters Most in Modern Home Care with Lori Franzo

Anthony Codispoti : Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they will overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codispoti and today’s guest is Lori Franzo, president and owner of the Comfort Care Senior Services franchise location. They are a premier home care franchise that offers in-home care across the US and Canada, aiming to help seniors maintain their independence in the comfort of their own homes. They provide a wide range of services including personal care, Alzheimer’s and dementia care, along with respite care and medication reminders.

Their mission is to improve the quality of life for each client and family that they serve. Now Laurie has been in the home care industry since 2000 and became president of Comfort Care Senior Services and sole owner in 2003. She currently oversees the operations in Slydell and New Orleans in Louisiana where her agency is recognized as a dementia-wise office. Under her leadership the company has expanded its support for seniors in multiple settings including private residences and hospitals. Now before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company ADBAC benefits agency where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. Imagine being able to give your employees free access to doctors, therapists and prescription medications in a way that actually puts more money in your staff’s pockets and the company’s too. As an example, one recent client with 450 employees boosted net profits over $412,000 a year. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible.

To find out if your company qualifies contact us today at ADBACbenefits.com. All right back to our guest today, the president, founder and owner of Comfort Care Home Care, Lori Franzo. Appreciate you making the time to share your story today.

Lori Franzo : Thank you for having me here today. I appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti : So you have owned a Comfort Care franchise for over 20 years, coming up on 25.

Lori Franzo : Correct, I could say 22 years. I’m actually going into my 23rd year.

Anthony Codispoti : 23rd year. Okay, how did that opportunity come about?

Lori Franzo : Well, I actually, before I did this, I mean, before this job working with seniors, I had a whole other career. But I wanted something different, something that made me feel different, little more important in my life where I could service people. I like to work with people, care about people. And I got a job working on the council at the council on aging.

I’m from there. I was director of an adult daycare center. And in this experience, I saw the need for quality home care. Back 22, 25 years ago, you know, there was a lot of situations where people were hiring people off the street. There was abuse. There was things going on. And when I worked for the council on aging, I had to resolve and help a lot of people who were struggling in these times. And I felt that we needed to have quality care, quality caregivers, and people who actually oversaw this and made a difference. So I began to research many different home care franchises out there.

And I felt the need to go to a franchise as, even though I knew a lot about elderly, I didn’t have an experience in this area. And I’ve always been a person who believes in learning. You have to learn something. You can’t, that’s how a lot of businesses fail because they don’t know what they’re getting into before they did it. So I felt the need for a franchise would assist me and teach me how to better run my company. And through many interviews with different home care franchises, I selected comfort care. They had the same ideas and philosophy that I did and really ground in in the way it wasn’t so focused on dollar, dollar, dollar, it was focused on the individual. So at that point, I went ahead and purchased a franchise and I started my business with their help.

Anthony Codispoti : So you looked at a lot of different franchise ores, other people that could help you get your foothold, teach you sort of the ropes, get you help get you set up. You went with comfort care specifically because their ideals matched your values, where it wasn’t just such a big focus on the bottom line.

It was, how can we help people? Can you maybe give an example of how their values showed up during that interview process before you even got a chance to work with them?

Lori Franzo : Well, I really found that at the time, the founder of the company, his communication with me and I did, they’re originally from Detroit and I went up Detroit and I met everybody and I had met other organizations as well. But when I walked in the office immediately, they began to teach me and give me their philosophy and explain to me that they weren’t here to take all my money, take everything that from me. It was, we’re not going to do anything until we feel you’re secure in your learning environment. So we’re going to give you the time to develop your business, to get started before they began to collect royalties or any event.

Anthony Codispoti : They were willing to… They don’t start collecting royalties right at the beginning.

Lori Franzo : Right. They were willing to give me the time to establish myself and really, the founder was very persistent in the sense that he saw something in me that I was the right person for them because they wanted people who truly cared about the individual, who cared about what they’re doing, who knew how to interact with elderly people, who knew, had the experience, but also had the heart for it. And there was just a connection there. I just felt comfortable.

It wasn’t… And like I said, I met with other franchisors and the first thing was money, money, money. This is what you… We expect from you. We expect this.

We expect that. And I never felt well. They were connecting with me on a personal level, whereas with Comfort Care and still to this day, they are still extremely amazing organization that if you need them, they’re there. If you’re having troubling times, they’re there. And truthfully, they have helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life, up and down business-wise. I mean, we went through Katrina and I lost my entire business in Katrina. So I had to start all over again.

And they didn’t expect me from day one to come up with how am I going to pay my royalties when I had no business. They stood by me through all these crises. And they continued to allow me to flourish and to put myself back on track and to continue my business. And so it was absolutely 100% right decision to go with Comfort Care.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s amazing. It wasn’t just a sales stick that they put on up front and then they couldn’t deliver.

Lori Franzo : And they didn’t deliver. They delivered 100-fold.

Anthony Codispoti : As advertised from the beginning up until present day. That’s great.

Lori Franzo : That’s the way we’re going to be here for us.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s awesome. Okay, so talk us through the actual services that you provide. Okay.

Lori Franzo : Well, we provide a full range of services and there’s a card that we give out 50 ways we can help. But our main focus is really personal care, making sure that their hygiene is kept up, getting a good shower and a good bath and keeping clean and making sure everything with their physical body doesn’t matter whether they need simple assist or they need full assist because we do handle bedbound hospice clients, all of that.

Our goal is to protect the body and the mind and we want to ensure that that is always taken care of. And then of course we do many other things. We do laundry. We do light house keeping. We do meal prep. We do transportation, medication reminders, which is so important because if our elderly are not taking their medications on time and on schedule or they forget to take them for days on end, that’s when you deal with a lot of our elderly start to decline because they’re not doing what they need to do at home. And we assist with keeping their house clean bills, whatever it is really, we pretty much help with anything that they need because our goal is to keep that person on track.

And every person is different. We find even just going into a home a couple times a week for somebody, an elderly person has nobody and they’re alone most of the time. You have someone coming in and making sure that their house is straightened up and there’s food in the refrigerator. I mean, God, how many times you go into an elderly person, they have no food in the house.

I mean, that’s not good. So if you take not taking your medicines right, if you take not eating right, all of these things, your environment becomes chaotic and messy, those things wreak havoc on our elderly. And so if we can improve that even in small increments, then that makes a difference in someone’s life.

Anthony Codispoti : So with the 20 plus years that you’ve been in the industry, Laurie, what are some of the big changes that you’ve seen happen?

Lori Franzo : Well, I feel that when I started this business, there was a lot more of simple companion cases where, yes, mom needed just some company and, you know, and there wasn’t, I’d say it wasn’t as great a need for the heavy duty physical care. But what we’re finding now is in these years of evolving, our work has become more advanced, you would say. In other words, we deal with a lot of people that are in the crisis moment, families are calling, mom’s coming out of the hospital, she’s, you know, not, not walking anymore, she’s not doing well anymore, and she needs transfers and a lot of physical care and cleaning from transfer to bed to chair.

You know, there’s a lot more physical work involved. And the increase in dementia is unbelievable. Like it is to me, so many clients, and I would honestly tell you 90% of our clients that we’re taking care of have some type of dementia. And if we don’t care for them in the proper manner, then we can actually hurt them more than we’re helping them. So learning how to communicate with a person who has dementia to understand the going into a home and looking and seeing what’s going on there and understanding what’s going on, and then creating that care plan so that that that particular client to which our care plans are dedicated to the individual, then we can actually begin to improve the quality of their life.

But a lot of times it is where they are already in the crisis situation, families don’t know what to do or how to handle things. And so our caregivers have to be very trained in physical care. And that is so important. We do do a lot of end of life care working with hospice agencies. So, you know, we’re dealing with bedbound people who need to be cleaned and turned and taken care of and understanding that end of life with that person’s experience. So I find that a lot of the work we’re doing is way more advanced than just watching TV with mom.

Anthony Codispoti : So you said that you’ve noticed an unbelievable increase in dementia. Do you think it’s just better diagnosed now? Or do you think that there’s been like an actual substantial increase in instances of it? I think it’s a little bit of a I think,

Lori Franzo : um, if you go back, you know, people didn’t understand what dementia was sometimes back in the day. And I can go back into my grandparents in ages like that when they talked about a family member who wasn’t clear. Sometimes they thought they were crazy or they lock them up because they thought they were, you know, had psychiatric problems. They didn’t recognize dementia.

They didn’t understand what was going on with their loved one. And, um, but, and I remember with my grandmother, my grandmother had dementia and understanding I wish, and I kind of, that kind of pushed me. I wish I knew when I knew now that I could have helped my grandmother because there would have been so many tools that we have now that helped dementia people that could have helped her, you know. And I think there was an increase in dementia. I find that I don’t know, and, and we go back to Alaya, I read a lot of information a lot about Alzheimer’s dementia and where we, a lot of this is happening from and a lot of it is, I believe, contributed to some of our lifestyles and some of the things we’ve been eating, what chemicals we’ve been taking into our body over the years, things that have, or medicines that have actually affected our brain and doesn’t necessarily always help us. So I do believe that, and from all statistics, there is a definite increase in dementia types of, you know, dementia and how it affects individuals.

Anthony Codispoti : And you have, you’re certified as a dementia-wise office. What does this certification represent?

Lori Franzo : Well, it is a certification that has been approved by the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Our team at our office developed this program, and it is a program that helps not only our caregivers, but it can also help families, how to interact with a person with dementia. And maybe, for example, and I still see this constantly every day, you have someone going in and their wife has dementia. And instead of trying to work with them and communicate with them and understand where they’re coming from, they’re either yelling at them or they’re saying, you don’t remember this or you don’t know how to do this anymore.

I don’t understand you. And they get frustrated and aggravated. And then you see the person with dementia getting frustrated and aggravated.

And it develops into a very toxic relationship that doesn’t have to be. And it’s really this training, which all our caregivers have to go through in order to be hired by our company. You have to be able to interact with your clients. And it’s really this training that we developed part two, so now training on part two of dementia. And really, that’s gotten more involved in the types of dementia and how to interact, because each type of dementia requires sometimes different types of interaction with your clients. So it’s teaching them how to interact, how to walk in, how to read the room, how to read that person, how to understand when to communicate, when to back off, when to just leave them alone and walk away and not expect them to do what you want them to do at that moment, because it doesn’t work that way. And if you constantly push, push, push, all you’re doing is pushing them away and frustrating them more. It’s knowing how to calm down. It’s knowing how to communicate, how to regroup and have them do something else for a you know, you can’t push people with dementia.

You have to be kind, soft-spoken, interactive, but in a kind way. If you think you’re going to win by constantly saying, don’t you remember? Don’t you remember? No, they can’t remember. If they could remember, they would remember, but they can’t. So those expectations have to change.

Anthony Codispoti : And so you talked about how we have a lot more tools now than like when your grandmother had dementia. The training that you just mentioned clearly is one of those tools. Is there something else that’s worth mentioning?

Lori Franzo : Well, I think that it’s just, I really think that’s the whole thing of it is really for people to, for the caregivers to understand the type of dementia this person has and what are the different signs with those different dementias. I mean, you’ve got Lewy body dementia, which is very specific. Okay.

What is that? For example, you can have hallucinations. You know, you tend to be more aggressive. There are certain things that give you cues. So once we do that assessment and our nurse creates that care plan with our families or clients, we know the type of dementia and then we can give specific tools to those caregivers on the type of dementia they’re dealing with. So they know specifically how to interact.

Anthony Codispoti : Has this training been sort of consistent throughout your time in the home care industry? Or was there maybe fewer requirements early on?

Lori Franzo : Well, no, I think this is when more of the last 10 years evolving. I think as the country is beginning to recognize dementia and the different types of dementia and they’re learning more and more about it, I think more and more tools are coming out, more and more understanding of dementia and what’s happening with it. And you know, the fix was in the beginning, medicine, medicine, medicine, let’s just give them drugs, give them drugs.

And now they’re learning that drugs are not always the answer. It’s a lot of times it’s interaction. It’s how you handle that individual. And yes, medication pays a big part in it and the proper medication can help with anxiety levels and all of that. But it’s also knowing not to over-medicate people. It’s knowing when to give them just enough to keep them calm, but really teaching our families how to interact with their loved ones. That’s so important.

Anthony Codispoti : And you know, big part of it is still maintaining human interaction, right?

Lori Franzo : Maintaining human interaction is extremely important. And you know, sometimes when you go into a home or family member say, oh, mom’s forgetting everything. She don’t remember nothing. She can’t remember. But if they haven’t seen anybody in a week and there’s nobody coming in their home and they have nobody to talk to and they’re just maybe listening to a noise on TV, we can appear that we have more short-term memory loss than we don’t. And when you get someone in there who’s interacting that person and bringing them back to who they were, maybe cooking with them, maybe they can’t cook fully anymore, but they can still do little things in the kitchen, helping them continue to live the life that they lived and tap into those things that who they were as a person. You know, whether they love to read or did they like playing games or did they like to cook or was clean home important to them?

Or, you know, what was important to them as an individual? And if we can tap into those personality traits and connections that they live their life, then you can develop a rapport. And then that particular person with the dementia can learn to trust. And when you develop a bond with a caregiver and that client, it can be quite magical and quite life changing in making that difference.

Because if you just walk in and think everybody’s the same, then you’ve missed the mark. You need to know who this person is so that you can use the best tools possible in that toolbox to interact with that particular individual.

Anthony Codispoti : You know, and I’m glad that we hit on this, Laurie, because I’m a big believer that safe human connection is some of the best medicine that we have out there.

Whether it’s for someone who’s struggling with dementia or it’s somebody who’s going through a rough period in their life, maybe they’re dealing with addiction issues, depression, anxiety, I think being able to be around people that you feel comfortable with and have that interaction do things together, have conversations. There’s something, I don’t know, almost magical about it.

Lori Franzo : It is. It’s so important. You know, I know technology is changing and, you know, it’s all kind of crazy these days, but human connection matters, you know, and it matters. And especially when you’re dealing with an elderly person, not only do they have dementia, but they have depression, and I’m glad you brought that up, because depression is a big part of things. And, you know, family members sometimes don’t always understand that not only is your loved one struggling with short-term memory loss, but because of that memory loss, they’re depressed. And depression can be so debilitating on people. But if you can bring them out of that depression and raise them up a little bit and have that human kindness and interaction, it makes a world of difference.

Anthony Codispoti : So, Lori, you’ve helped seniors primarily in home settings, but I believe also in hospital settings. How does the care that you deliver differ based on the setting?

Lori Franzo : Okay. Well, you know, generally in the home, like I said, it’s whatever needs to be done in the home to what needs to be done with them. But if we’re going into a hospital, for example, you know, you’ve got an elderly person who’s in the hospital.

Truthfully, elderly people should not be left alone in a hospital, because there is too much going on, especially if they have dementia. It’s too confusing them. They can’t interact with the doctor, then it can’t interact with the nurse. They’re not following up on what’s going on.

They’re not retaining what’s going on. So a lot of times, we’re in there to back up that family. And families can’t sit there 24 hours a day at a hospital.

It’s too much on anybody, you know? So having a qualified caregiver be the eyes and ears for your loved one to ensure one that they’re being taken care of properly, that their needs are being met. But then what happens when the doctor shows up and nobody’s there? That caregiver is retaining that information and asking the questions that the family needs so that we can make sure we relay back to the family what’s happening with dad or mom, and we can communicate that. So that’s important in a hospital to have that connection. We also do a lot of work in assisted livings, memory care. So it doesn’t really matter where you are. Home care can make a difference, because none of us can be anywhere 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Anthony Codispoti : And the services that you provide go far beyond basic personal care. Can you tell us about programs like joyful memories, music, and gateway fall prevention?

Lori Franzo : Yes. Well, gateway fall prevention, fall prevention has always been a big part of what we do. And we always do a, when we go into a home, we do a full risk assessment.

And that assessment lets us look at the home, okay, and say, okay, mom’s been fooling, but we see a lot of problems here. How is that shower? Do they have a handheld shower head to come down? Do they have a seat in their shower?

Are there rugs where they’re tripping on those rugs? What do we see as some of the issues, how their falls are happening? And by doing a full risk assessment, then we can actually prevent, start to prevent those falls. And so we give the families a list of, you know, these are the things we suggest that you change inside the home, so that this way we can prevent people from falling. Because we all know that a lot of elderly people, a major fall, like a broken hip or whatever, is the thing sometimes that takes them out to be honest with you.

So if we can prevent those falls and keep them safe, so our full risk assessment and then we create that care plan on how to prevent those falls inside the home. And music is very important, and actually we do have a music therapist on staff here in our office, but through joyful melodies, it is really tapping into part of the brain that can function beyond anything else. Music is always there. And then listening to music and playing music, and then going back to the music, especially that people loved as they were growing up, it touches part of the brain that some of us can’t get through in any other way. So music is an extremely valuable tool.

Anthony Codispoti : In terms of accessing memories that weren’t there before, is that what you mean?

Lori Franzo : Yes, it actually brings them back. Like maybe there was a time, maybe their husbands passed, but then they used to listen to Frank Sinatra all the time together. So tapping into that and really then putting that music on and maybe finding a way to communicate with that client. Tell me a little bit, does this make you think of something? You know, you’re not pushing them to remember something, but sometimes it just brings in that cue. For example, I had a lady that I used to work with and she did not talk, she did not speak, she still couldn’t walk, but she was very agitated. She lived in constant anxiety, pacing, pacing, pacing.

There was nothing that would calm her. Well, we began to play music for her on a regular basis. She would actually sit down in her chair and she would be so calm and so still. And she would begin to tap her feet and she would hum to the music.

And you could see how it touched her that no other way would touch her. So music is an extremely valuable tool and that is why Comfort Care created joyful melodies to not only we do it in assisted livings and so on and so forth, but in individual homes using music as that tool to tap into memories that may still be there or to just send that.

Anthony Codispoti : And are you trying different kinds of music to see what they respond to?

Lori Franzo : Yeah, a lot of times we try to learn about the person, but it also kind of goes with their age and the era that they lived in and what connected with them. And so we tend to go back, of course, to the older music because most of our clients are elderly and that is the time that they connected into. And actually sometimes music can agitate. So some of the music that people listen to these days, you could see if you’re playing that music, you’re agitating them because that music is not familiar to them. So you want to be selective and you want to be really patient specific as to their error and their times and what kind of music they valued. And sometimes a lot of our questions in our assessment tell us what they liked, what did they listen to?

Some people like Elvis, some people like Frank, you know, some people like just listening to classical music. So it’s learning what they like and trying different things and tapping into it. And a lot of times it can evolve communication and get them to open up. And you just see sparks kind of fly with music.

Anthony Codispoti : Now, Laurie, at the beginning of the interview, you talked about how, because your business is based in Slydall and New Orleans, Louisiana. And when Katrina, the hurricane came through, it wiped your business out. What was that recovery process like for you?

Lori Franzo : It was a very difficult time. We had just started the company, that somebody was growing, we were thriving, it was an amazing time. Then Katrina came through and literally took out everything. There was no business, there was no people, there was no caregivers, there was nobody. And it literally took four months before I could come back to Louisiana.

But my goal was to come back. We did have three clients that we kept through our Katrina and we had three caregivers that took their time, left Louisiana with our clients and stayed with them for almost three months. And so that was a very dedicated, those are very dedicated people. But when we came back, we had to find an office again, the office was gone, everything was gone, homes were gone. You know, so we came back and like I said, Comfort Care was just amazingly supportive of us and helping us get back on our feet.

And we just started over again. We found an office space that was dry and didn’t get damaged. And so we rented that office and we began trying to hire caregivers. But what was difficult about that time is that there were so many clients, people were coming back and meeting help with their loved ones, but we didn’t have employees. The employees were still all gone.

I mean, their homes were destroyed. So it was a constant challenge of trying to help people, but trying to get employees come back to work. I mean, it was really literally a year for us to get our feet, get back on our feet and really start to do solid business again.

Anthony Codispoti : Whether we’re talking before Katrina, after a present day, what have been the most effective ways for you to find customers or for them to find you?

Lori Franzo : Well, you know, marketing is important. And really, our referral sources are key. It’s really connecting with your referral sources where business, when they see a need for someone who needs home care, whether it’s home help, hospice, hospitals, all these different areas, marketing is important. It’s keeping your name out there.

It’s making sure that people know who you are. And really a solid reputation. I mean, that’s what I have always, I don’t know if I’m saying this, but it’s always been so important to me, is that our reputation remains solid. And then no matter what adversity we face, we are there, we’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to treat people right to the best of our ability.

And yes, we can make everybody happy. We all know how that is these days, but we do our best to make sure our reputation stays solid. And that goes out to our long-term referrals, and they know who we are as a company. I’m so sorry. And know how we care about people.

And so that really, I am so sorry, that really makes a difference in the reputation. And of course, we advertise all the time. Internet has become a big thing.

So you have to constantly be up on the internet. You need Google reviews. You’ve got to constantly be getting your reviews from your clients, because that’s going to keep your name at the top of the list.

So there’s a lot to marketing and really getting out there and making sure people know you’re here. Because if people don’t think about home care, they don’t think about it until the emergency.

Anthony Codispoti : Until they need it right now. Then suddenly they’re like, oh my god, we need home care, you know? And we try to advise and train people. Don’t wait till the last minute. I mean, you can sign up with us on an as-needed basis, because maybe you just once in a while need help. Maybe you go out of town for a couple of days and somebody needs to go out for a mom for a couple of days. So it’s setting up on an as-needed basis. So you’re working in advance.

Lori Franzo : Rather than working at the crisis, where suddenly mom’s coming to the hospital, there’s nobody to take care of her. Dad’s coming home and he needs 24-hour care. Sometimes people are still waiting till the crisis occurs. So it’s trying to educate people on how valuable home care can be.

And you don’t think they can afford it. But getting someone in, even two days a week where they have nobody, and we’re making sure the house is clean, the refrigerator’s full, you know, they’re taking their meds, all of those things, just on small increments can make a difference. So we try to educate people about how home care can start small if it’s what needed. The other thing that’s valuable with home care, and I’ll relay this to you, is that we take care of young people too.

It’s not just… Oh, interesting. So you’ve got someone coming out of a hospital, say you had a knee replacement. Well, they live alone maybe, or they don’t have the help they need. Well, using us for two weeks or three weeks so that we can get you through your crisis period and then you’re back up and running and you don’t need us anymore. You know, home care is not just for elderly. It can be used for younger people who have had a procedure at the hospital and, you know, then suddenly need some help on a very temporary basis.

Anthony Codispoti : So who do your referral partners end up being? What kinds of places, whether it’s young or old?

Lori Franzo : Home health, you’re looking at hospitals, you’re looking at hospice. We get a lot of referrals from hospice. Rehabs, you know, people go into rehabs and then they’re coming out of rehab and they need some more help at home to continue thriving.

You know, so there are many different reasons why our referral sources refer to us. It’s getting people to tune in, pack those places to understand, hey, this person could use home care because this person is going home and are they going to decline as soon as they leave you? If there’s nobody there to make sure they’re taking their meds, you know, making sure there’s food in the refrigerator, making sure that they’re continuing their exercises, you know, and that’s something that’s important to us. We work with therapists who can give us range of motion so we can work on those range of motions with our clients, making sure they’re getting to those follow-up doctor’s appointments. All of those things can make a difference.

Anthony Codispoti : So the other side of the equation is it’s sort of this, you know, you want to find the clients, you want them to find you, your referral partners help there, and then on the back end, you need to have the care providers sort of ready to go to fulfill that service. What have you found success with in terms of locating, recruiting, and retaining those folks?

Lori Franzo : Okay, well, you know, it is a constant challenge and it has become more of a challenge these days than ever, getting the right employee. And so, you know, we’re fortunately here at Comfort Care, we are very fortunate that we have a lot of long-term employees.

And to me, that’s the most valuable thing. If you have someone that you hire and they stay with you, then, you know, we have people, I have some caregivers who have been with me 17 years. I mean, that’s phenomenal to have people who work for you that long. But you have to constantly be hiring, because generally, in this industry, you’re looking at about a 33% turnover of your employees. So, you know, you’ve got to constantly be bringing people in, but they have to be qualified, they have to have experience, then they have to be willing to go through our training, they have to be willing to do what it takes to become the best caregiver. But you are constantly looking, you are constantly hiring, and you know, we’re always running ads on different platforms and just trying to connect with people in many different ways.

And we’re quite extensive in our interview process and what we do to hire an individual, you know, they have to do 13 hours of training before they can even, even though they may have 20 years of experience, they still have to do our initial training. I mean, it is just part of getting that caregiver. But then retaining them is so important. And that’s by offering different types of benefits that can help them. 401ks and paytime off programs and different health programs and different things that we can offer them, that make them want to stay with you.

So, different tools that can help retain them is extremely important. I know you brought up about health insurance and benefits through some type of mental health insurance that can help too. So, it’s having the tools in place so that you can offer them something more than what the person, the home care down the street is offering them.

Anthony Codispoti : What do you think the future of in home care is? Are there innovations or big changes that you think are coming?

Lori Franzo : Well, I think technology is a big part of what’s changing in home care, only because you know, it used to be a lot more paperwork, but things, everything’s dying through computers now and scheduling and sending out, you know, schedules to the caregivers and at them being able to access and also being able to access shifts.

So, you know, now there’s open shifts reports. So, caregivers want to work more. They can access those things and having those tools in place where they can get their pay stub whenever they want to because they have a way to access it on their own, not constantly calling the office or it’s really a lot of the technology that comes into place and really the training.

Training has evolved so much and learning all these different tools and constantly training them in different avenues. I think that has become a big part of what we do to ensure that the caregivers that we have are doing a good job and truthfully, salaries need to increase and you know, but there’s, we’ve always believed that if we can pay them as much and the best our employees can, we’re going to do that because it may hurt us on whatever our bottom line, but if they’re with you and they know they’re being paid well and we value who they are as individuals, then they’re going to stay with you. They’re not going to leave you. They’re going to stay here because they recognize that this is a good company who looks out for us.

Anthony Codispoti : Laurie, in my experience, some of our greatest challenges end up being some of our biggest teachers. I’d like to hear about a serious challenge that you’ve overcome, whether it’s personal or professional. How’d you get through it and what did you learn coming through the other side?

Lori Franzo : Well, I’ve had to learn, I think to, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs challenges and in this business, financials are a constant up and down because of the fact that you never know you could have all of these hours and all of these clients and literally I have lost four people in a week who passed away on me. So it’s knowing how to constantly regroup, restart and have the patients to know that it’s going to circle back around. That took a long time to learn because you know, you right away panic, you right away get stressed, you right away start to think, oh, what’s going to happen? But I’ve learned over the years not to get so stressed out over it, to learn how to face the challenges, think about them slowly and how to make the proper moves to move forward in another direction.

I mean, I think that’s part of any business owner who in the beginning is like so stressed out about how they’re going to manage. But I have gone through Katrina, I have gone through the oil spill in 2009. I mean, I have gone through so many ups and downs in the financial aspects of things. And it’s really a matter of making sure you’re putting your some money on the side for those times.

You can’t just think you’re going to survive if you have no backup. So you’ve got to be willing to have the tenacity to get through it and to know how to keep working your business and keep moving forward and really about hiring the right staff. And that’s been truly something I’ve learned how to do. And truthfully, I am so blessed because I have so many people in my office that have worked for me for years and we tend to have retention. And it’s really for me, it’s constantly connecting in with them and ensuring that they’re happy at their job or whatever their stresses are. I’m listening to them, hearing them and helping them resolve those stresses they’re dealing with. So it’s really about growth and understanding how to run a good company.

Anthony Codispoti : You know, you mentioned just finding a way to get through it. I’m curious to hear more specifically how you’ve gotten through some of these challenges. Are you leaning on friends and family?

Are you part of different peer groups? Maybe the franchise network itself? Perhaps you’ve got a mentor. Any people or groups of people that you’ve been able to go to when you go through these?

Lori Franzo : My franchise group has been an amazing mentor to me, especially in the first 10, 15 years. Of course, I’ve grown so much that I may not need that as much, but they were constant mentors to me. And constantly when I had something I didn’t know how to have an answer to, and to this day, if I don’t have an answer, that’s where I go.

I go to them. But also being out in the community and meeting different people and different organizations and different groups and connecting with those people and listening to people and sitting down at a table with people in different organizations who have a different perspective and can really constantly be teaching you. I’m also a certified senior advisor. And that’s something that I did, started, began in the organization 22 years ago when I decided to do this.

And I don’t know if you’re familiar with the organization, but it is, it’s called certified senior advisor. And in that, I am constantly under education. So in order to keep that and my ability to go out and talk to people about different aspects of being a senior, whether it’s Medicare or Medicaid, understanding long term care, insurance, understanding home care, understanding home health, understanding hospice, understanding how all these things work together. I have done so much training with this certification over the years that it’s given me tremendous knowledge. And so for me to walk into a room and be able to have a conversation with somebody, whether it’s a hospice agency or a NERC case manager, or it’s really given me such a broad view of all these health services so that I can equip myself to have conversations and intelligent conversations with people who are in this industry. So that’s been a big part of my training for me.

Anthony Codispoti : I want to go back to oil spill in 2009. How did that have an impact on your business?

Lori Franzo : Well, again, and in that 2009, I will share with you that the Medicaid system in Louisiana is not in very good shape. And it is still not after all these years.

And so 2009, we had the major oil spill. There were, everything was shutting down here. There were no employees. It was, people were not spending money. Home care was just really struggling.

And on top of that, at the same year, we had to make a big decision. When I started this company, I wanted to help everybody. It didn’t matter how much money you earned or what you could afford or didn’t afford it.

If I could help you, I was going to do it. And the Medicaid system in Louisiana at that time helped people and we would get reimbursed. It wasn’t a lot, but it was still enough too for us to be able to assist Medicaid clients. However, in that same year as the oil spill, I had to make a very difficult decision. I had to back out of Medicaid and taking Medicaid clients. And the reason was, is because the state decreased their reimbursement.

And still to this day have not ever brought it back up. They are actually reimbursing less than what a standard employee care give her wages. So we had to, we had to get out of the Medicaid business and really it broke me at that time because it was not something I ever wanted to do. But as a business owner, I had to choose, am I going to keep this company open? Or I’m going to have to let the Medicaid go.

Anthony Codispoti : So hard business decisions to have to make, especially when they pull so hard the other direction from what your personal values are. Right.

Lori Franzo : It was very difficult because my philosophy was to help. And I also knew that we were losing money, tons and tons of money, because I might be paying you at that time and you’re going back 2009. I mean, I might have been paying you $12,000 an hour.

And if they’re reimbursing you 11, well, that doesn’t take much, you know, understanding of business that you can’t continue in that process. So we had to drop Medicaid. I became a big advocate to try to change Medicaid for many, many years in the state of Louisiana. I wrote letters. I tried to connect with their politicians.

I tried to do different things to say, Hey, what are you doing? You know, this is not helping because now we’re hurting the people that were supposed to be helping. But politicians don’t always listen, think the wheel doesn’t always change. And I finally had to accept it that there was not going to be a change.

And to this day, in the state of Louisiana, there are very, very few Medicaid providers left because they cannot afford to hire qualified, quality people and get reimbursed and lose money. So you can’t, you can’t do it. So that was a big challenge for me to have to overcome to figure out how do I move on? And yes, it was a good part of my business. So I had to regroup and think, how do I continue having my business grow without that chunk?

Anthony Codispoti : You know, so is it mostly private pay or other insurance products?

Lori Franzo : Basically, we are generally private pay is a big part of our business, long term care insurance, which not everybody has. But I highly recommend if you can afford a policy, get a long term care policy, because we do have a lot of clients who are on long term care, who their policy covers home care, whether it’s a small amount or a lot of it, it just depends on each individual policy. Now, we do have a few other resources. Of course, we get works from comp cases, things like that, because workmen, because comp referred to us. But some of the big changes that are happening right now is that health insurance is beginning to recognize home care as a valuable tool. Health insurance is never covered home care. They cover home health, which is very different than home care.

They never covered home care. Well, there are two insurance companies out there in Louisiana right now. There’s one called People’s Health and the other is UMass.

UMass is now offering limited amount, but some home care. So in other words, they’ll refer a client to us who’s coming out of a hospital that needs some help for maybe a certain amount of time, or they get 12 visits, or they may get 20 visits. They’re assigning them visits to help them get through the crisis of coming out of a hospital, because as we know, hospitals are concerned about re-emission rates.

It’s a big thing right now. And they get dinged if they’re constantly re-emitting their patients. So now some home care, some insurance companies are beginning to recognize, hey, if we use a home care agent, and get them in there, and they can help.

We can’t afford long term, but we can afford at least maybe 20 visits for eight hours. Then we know that person’s got their feet on the ground, and they’re moving forward, and they’re going to keep them out of the hospital.

Anthony Codispoti : Which is much more expensive for the insurance company to have to pay for.

Lori Franzo : That paying for that little bit of home care that they’re… So that is, I say, one of the biggest changes. The other thing that’s very amazing now is the veteran care.

Veterans here in the state of Louisiana, I know across the country, the Veterans Administration has improved their home care so much. We have a massive amount of clients. We… That’s not something we don’t pursue the individual. It comes out of the VA. They send us clients when they have someone that they assess that needs home care. They will go ahead and send us the person’s information.

We reach out to them. And the VA is providing home care, sometimes up to 20 hours a week of care for that individual, for that veteran. And when I tell you, it makes a world of difference, because you know our veterans struggle.

They struggle so much, and sometimes they can’t afford to pay for home care. But the VA has stepped up. They’re doing it right. They’re running an amazing program. And this really has evolved, and it’s getting better and better over the last six, seven years. And it’s amazing what the VA is doing for their veterans these days through home care.

Anthony Codispoti : Any other trends that you’re seeing like that? And both of those seem pretty significant. The VA, Humana, the other group that you mentioned. Anything else that looks encouraging for the home health care industry?

Lori Franzo : Well, I think really the more hospitals and health insurance begin to recognize what home care can do, I’m hoping that that will continue to evolve. I mean, I think it’s still a very slow process. And still, there are so many people that don’t even understand what home care does. But I think those are some of the primary things is getting our government to understand the value of home care, insurance companies understanding the value, and hospitals understanding the value. And I think some hospitals are starting to recognize that, hey, home care can, home health is one thing, but home health only goes in once twice a week.

You know, and they do some therapy, but who’s taking care of that person to see if they have food or if they’re taking their meds. So hospitals are beginning to take a turn around to recognize that home care is valuable too. You know, so I think it’s just coming more to the forefront of realizing just like hospice, just like home health, home care is right there, right there at the top of the rank with those others.

Anthony Codispoti : What’s the difference between home care and home health?

Lori Franzo : Okay, well, home health is, the doctor has to prescribe in order for it. And the nurse comes in and they’ll review their medications, they’ll make sure that they’re, you know, whatever’s happened inside the home. And generally they, the nurse will come in and do their blood pressures check, make sure they’re okay. They’re visiting a half hour in and out maybe just to make sure the person’s not going totally off.

Anthony Codispoti : More of a medical, a short medical visit.

Lori Franzo : So what medical relief. And then there’s PT and OT. So if you have some, you need some physical care, they’ll come in and then, and truthfully, Medicare has been taking a lot of hits. So like, they used to maybe get PT and OT for three months, now they’re getting it for six weeks, you know, so even that’s decreased a lot. So that’s all that home health does.

Whereas home care can be in there from four hours a day to 24 hours a day, just depending on the need of the client. And we’ll assist with their, we’re looking at their whole picture, their whole life, their whole self and taking all of that into account and trying to tap into each part of that person to keep them on track and keep them healthy.

Anthony Codispoti : And Laura, you’ve mentioned multiple times in the interview how you’re somebody who always wants to be learning, always wants to be growing. Is there a particular resource, a book, a podcast, a course that’s been helpful for you that maybe some of our listeners might get some benefit from?

Lori Franzo : Well, you know, honestly, I’m constantly reading mostly is a big reader. So like, I have every magazine that’s anything that’s published about dementia care or Parkinson’s, so all the different diseases that are out there now. And like I said, I’m a certified senior advisor. So I do get a lot of curriculum from the organization that helps me. And they’re always on top of their game as to what’s changing and what’s evolving. And actually, we have an amazing person up at our corporate office called Stephanie. And Stephanie, she is constantly out there with different organizations and different constantly staying on the new developments that are happening in diseases and sharing. So she’s a big mentor to me because she brings me information that can help me learn. And so she’s and that’s something that comfort care is really good at is that they’re not just sitting back on their laurels. They’re constantly trying to develop us as individuals as business owners to learn more to know how how we can better serve our clients.

So I really take in a lot and truthfully out in the field and when I’m marketing or in the community, there are so many people that are involved and care about these subjects that if you’re willing to sit down and listen and talk and have lunch and brainstorm ideas, that’s a lot where I get a lot of my information from.

Anthony Codispoti : That’s great. And Lori, I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to pause and do two things. First of all, everyone listening, I’m going to ask if you could just set aside a second, open up your podcast app, hit the follow or subscribe button there, maybe even leave us a comment or review. These are ways that you will continue to get more great interviews into your feed. And it’s a way that you can help the show and help others find us. Lori, I also want to let people know the best way either to get in touch with you directly or your staff or to continue to follow your story. What would that be?

Lori Franzo : Well, you can reach us here at our office. We have two numbers. We have a 985-7816619, or we have a New Orleans off number, which is 504-833-7726. You can reach us on either one of those numbers.

You can go online and just pull up Comfort Care. And you can pull up the territory that you’re looking for. We’re all over the United States and Canada and even overseas. You can just go online, pull up Comfort Care, Home Care, Comfort Care, Senior Services will come up, and you can find any office that you need in any area necessary. You can also reach me personally at my email, which is LFranzo at ComfortCare.com. I welcome anytime anybody reaching out to me personally.

You can find that information on our website, my numbers, my emails. So there’s so many ways to get in touch with us. Here in our office, everybody is trained. Everybody knows what we do, and everybody’s really good at communicating. So there’s so many ways to get a hold of us. And look, you may be just reaching out because you just want to learn, or maybe you’re not ready.

That’s okay. If we can help you to understand and have more information so that when you are ready or when you are ready for a loved one for Home Care, knowing that you have options and choices and what your choices are, matter to us. So whether you choose us or not, if we can educate you and give you the information you need, then we felt like we’ve done a good job.

Anthony Codispoti : Doing a little bit of homework in advance is going to pay dividends for down the road when you eventually need that help, because oftentimes it comes suddenly. Right. Last question I have for you, Laurie. You and I reconnect a year from now, and there is one big specific thing that you’re celebrating. You’re very excited about it. What’s that one specific thing you’re celebrating a year from now? Let me think about that.

Lori Franzo : Well, I would think a year from now, the development of some of our newer programs that are coming on board. And I think that’s what I’m excited about, because understanding different diseases and how to handle them, we just started a new Parkinson’s program, and we’re just starting to roll this out and learn a little bit more about Parkinson’s and how to help our Parkinson’s clients.

So I’m hoping at that point, we will be in the throes of that and being able to train our caregivers on this program that we’re developing at here at Comfort Care on Parkinson’s. So, and really celebrating another year. Like I said, I have been here to going on 23 years. I’m not ready to retire yet.

I’m still moving forward. And really, it’s just developing this company to be the best it can be. And that’s what I celebrate every day, is us constantly having our caregivers be the best they can be and giving them the tools to make a difference.

Because we’re so many challenges out in this world right now. And if we can help our caregivers and help our staff and help ourselves and help our families learn how to handle the things that they’re dealing with, whether it’s with their families, their loved ones, whether it’s dementia, it’s Parkinson’s or all these other diseases, cancers that we’re facing, if we can help them and get them through that, and we can celebrate the differences that we make. And one of the things that I do is very important to me, and I’ve kept them since 22 years, is our thank yous.

We get a lot of thank yous. And I break out that folder once a year. And it reminds me through all the challenges that I face, through the days where I feel discouraged, where the time is like, Oh my God, how am I going to go on? I open that folder, and I take out that folder, and I read those cards, and I read those letters, and I read them again. And it reminds me what we do here at Comfort Care does make a difference. I love that.

Anthony Codispoti : Laurie Franzo from the Slide All in New Orleans, Louisiana, Comfort Care. I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Lori Franzo : Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Anthony Codispoti : Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories Podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.