Ep 03 - Transforming Senior Care: Personalization and Community with Julie Calabro from CarePatrol

What happens when a real estate professional embarks on a mission to transform the senior care landscape? Meet Julie from CarePatrol, who found her true calling in senior care after witnessing her father-in-law’s struggles. In this episode of Heart2Heart Senior Radio, Julie shares her remarkable journey and reveals how CarePatrol’s personalized approach goes beyond health needs to embrace seniors' life stories and passions. Whether it’s nurturing a garden or painting a masterpiece, discover how CarePatrol helps seniors thrive in communities that resonate with their interests.
 
 Understanding assisted living can be confusing, and misconceptions often abound. Many people are surprised to learn that Medicare doesn’t cover assisted living costs, which are typically privately paid. Together, we debunk myths surrounding assisted living facilities, emphasizing the autonomy and vibrant social life residents can enjoy. We also discuss the importance of a rigorous care discovery process to ensure seniors find their forever home, tailored to their medical needs and personal preferences.
 
 Our conversation extends into the rich cultural tapestry of South Florida, where life expectancy is high and diversity is celebrated. Through touching stories, like that of a 108-year-old Caribbean woman, Julie and her sister-in-law illustrate their unique approach to senior care that respects cultural nuances and language differences. Operating in Broward and Miami-Dade, they uphold core values of genuine care, even offering pro bono services for those in need. Join us for an inspiring look at how CarePatrol is building stronger, more compassionate senior communities.

Transcript

Juan Gallo

00:02

Welcome to Heart2Heart Senior Radio, where every voice matters and every connection counts. I'm your host, Juan Gallo, each week, bringing you real conversations with seniors, but also with trusted guys in the senior space. It's a podcast that's part of our bigger outreach mission to care. Tune in, join the conversation and help us build a stronger, more connected senior community. All right, hello everybody, welcome back with another session of Heart2Heart Senior Radio, underwritten by our good friends at Arosa, and I am here joined by the lovely Julie. Julie is with CarePatrol. Julie, tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do, and mostly about CarePatrol, because we want to hear about that. 

Julie Calabro

00:48

Okay, thank you for having me. 

Juan Gallo

00:49

Absolutely. 

Julie Calabro

00:50

So my background is in real estate. I've been a licensed realtor for 18 plus years and then actually my sister-in-law got me into CarePatrol. Oh, wow. So, yeah, she introduced me to this lovely environment of seniors and the community is wonderful. She called me up one day and she said she goes, I have an opportunity I want to talk to you about. And I immediately panicked because the last time I got a call from her like that, I found myself coaching girls basketball. 

01:24

Our daughter's team we'd never coached before. I knew nothing about basketball, but she's like let's do it. So anytime I get a call like that from her, I panic, but this time it wasn't. 

Juan Gallo

01:35

Now I'm curious. I got to hear about the girls, and I'm saying this because I grew up playing baseball. Okay, I grew up playing baseball. 

Julie Calabro

01:41

Okay. 

Juan Gallo

01:49

And when my son turned eight, you know I went, I took him to one of the you know his practices for basketball at the you know Weston YMCA, and they looked at me and they saw how short I was and they said, oh, he must really like I mean. And so you know next thing, I know that started my almost six-year basketball coaching career with him and his teammates. 

Julie Calabro

02:12

So how old were? 

Juan Gallo

02:13

you, so it was your niece and your nieces. 

Julie Calabro

02:15

And my daughter. So it was my daughter. I want to say they were 12 or 13. I don't remember their ages. So what happened was they were rated the two highest players so they could never play on the same team. So then we had other girls on the league that they played together and they were very good. So we're like well, how come they can play together? So they said well, the dad's coach. 

Juan Gallo

02:37

So Nikki said let's do it, and the only way to do it was, you know, to coach. 

Julie Calabro

02:43

So we actually made it to the championship both times, both seasons One we lost and the second one we won the championship Wow. 

Juan Gallo

02:51

Well, congratulations, thank you, and I'm guessing that your coaching career ended there. 

Julie Calabro

02:57

Yes, sir, so you get a call. You get a call from. 

Juan Gallo

02:59

Nikki and you're nervous. Yes. 

Julie Calabro

03:03

And she wanted me to come on board with CarePatrol. But the true story behind it, the real story behind getting into CarePatrol, started with her Because, unfortunately, her dad, who's my father-in-law, because she's my sister-in-law got ill and they had a hard time getting guidance through the whole process. There was not a good support system, so it made a very challenging situation even harder for the family. Wow. So when she heard about CarePatrol and the values and everything that they did for the families, she immediately knew she could make a difference and she could be there for the families. She immediately knew she could make a difference and she could be there for the families that she didn't have that support for. So that's really how we were introduced. 

Juan Gallo

03:53

So let me draw some context, kind of connect the dots. Nikki's, your sister-in-law, correct and so you're, admittedly, working with family and that's okay for you. 

Julie Calabro

04:05

There's a lot of CarePatrol talk at family gatherings. 

Juan Gallo

04:07

Okay, I get it and uh, and so care, patrol, I'm guessing is it a franchise. Okay, and that's how, Nikki, she found out about it and then, and then she calls you and she says hey, just end your, end your coaching career and your real estate career and come on board. 

Julie Calabro

04:32

Actually, you know it goes hand in hand with real estate, to be honest with you, because we also partner with other realtors, because it helps them through the process. When you know we get the call that mom or dad can't live alone anymore. But we usually get the call from the children you know the older children, so we help them through the whole process. If they need to sell their home as well, we help direct them with that. But our main thing is helping them with senior placement. Correct, yeah. 

Juan Gallo

04:53

Now CarePatrol is different. 

Julie Calabro

04:54

I mean we work. 

Juan Gallo

04:55

so Heart2Heart works with a number of referral sources for us and for the seniors that call us and are asking questions, and for the seniors that call us and are asking questions. And I noticed that each one of our placement agencies are different from the other. But I think you guys maybe put a little bit of a different spin. What is unique If we were assuming that the people listening know about placement already? What is unique in what you guys do? 

Julie Calabro

05:25

So first, there are there are a lot of wonderful placement agencies out there. Here in South Florida we are a little different. We pride ourselves in really giving that personalized care. So it's not just here's some places. Go ahead, you know, go find what you need. 

05:42

We do an extensive care discovery. We'll meet with the families, hopefully, if we can, with the seniors themselves, and we'll find out what their needs are as far as their health needs and medical needs, but also who they are. What did they do for a living? What are their hobbies? Because when we try and find the right place for them, we want them to enjoy the experience there. If they like gardening, make sure it's a place that has a little garden center or artwork. Do they have an art class or activities? Not everybody wants that, some people, they don't want the bingo and the happy hours, they want a quiet environment, you know. So it just depends. So, um, also, as far as their medical needs, we make sure you know, if there's any onset of dementia, any early signs, that even though they don't need it now, we want to find a place that has memory care as well, so they don't have to move again now for those of people listening. 

Juan Gallo

06:37

You talked about early signs of dementia. How would someone even know that? What would be an early sign of dementia there? 

Julie Calabro

06:44

are signs a little forgetfulness, like little things that will, you know, trigger the family A lot of the times it will take going to the doctor and the doctor you know obviously diagnosing, but there are little signs of, you know, forgetting to turn off the stove or, you know, lock the door at night, or little things that you know will be like a red flag for the families. 

Juan Gallo

07:10

So things that could be, that could turn into something tragic. 

Julie Calabro

07:13

Correct Not knowing how to get back home. You know you'll drive to the grocery store and you can't remember your way back home. Little things and unfortunately sometimes you're in denial of those things and that's where, hopefully, those family members will pick up on those signs. Yeah. 

Juan Gallo

07:29

That's super helpful because, as you're saying, you know early onset and forgetfulness. I'm like man, that's me. I feel the same. I forget everything right, um, mostly my wallet, my phone, things like that. It's stuff that I'm holding right and I'm not great with titles and names, but yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's more of the, the tragic, or things that could be tragic, the stove that could cause a fire getting lost. Those things are very important to understand. Talk to me about, is it? 

Julie Calabro

08:01

Sunshine Buddies. Oh yes, our Sunshine Buddies. 

Juan Gallo

08:04

Yeah, what's that about? 

Julie Calabro

08:06

So we sponsor. They're little kids, they're probably from age six and up. So what we do is we go out to the different communities and if it's Mother's Day, we'll bring flowers. If it is Veterans Day, we brought donuts and coffee to the veterans. So it's just getting them involved and you know that gap that's there with the two generations. We try, and you know, bridge that gap for them and the faces that light up on both ends. 

Juan Gallo

08:39

I know. 

Julie Calabro

08:39

The seniors and the kids. My daughter is one of them and some of our neighborhood friends, and every time I get this when's our next activity? They want to go back. That's awesome, and they want to know where their Sunshine Buddy shirt is because they want to participate. To know where their Sunshine Buddy shirt is because they want to, you know, participate, and usually, especially the little boys at 7, 8, 9, you know, usually that's not really what they want to do, but no, they love it. 

Juan Gallo

09:03

Yeah, they want to go. I don't know. Dig up a hole with a toy car, no, no. 

Julie Calabro

09:08

They're looking for their bright yellow Sunshine Buddy shirt and they're wearing it proudly. And it really. I mean, we went and um, one of the ladies said I haven't had anybody visit me and bring me a flower in years, you know, and it just broke our heart and I was like, oh, we have to do this more often. So it said, we did one where they read poems too, they. Yeah, we picked different poems and they read the poems to the seniors. It was really nice. 

Juan Gallo

09:33

So someone has a child between the ages of six to nine, maybe. 

Julie Calabro

09:37

No older than that too, yeah, because there's some environments that it's probably better suited for the older ones than the younger ones. So even up to 16 years old, it all depends on the individual, you know, on how they want to contribute and participate. 

Juan Gallo

09:54

And this is something that you do every month. 

Julie Calabro

09:56

We try to. Yeah, we try to do it, maybe twice a month, it depends on what's going on what's going on. 

Juan Gallo

10:00

yeah, what activities right. 

Julie Calabro

10:02

We try and coordinate with the activities director of the different communities and so we can get them involved and we get on their calendar. We don't like to just obviously show up. So we try and have these scheduled, but yeah. 

Juan Gallo

10:17

That's great, especially for those high school students. They need volunteer hours. 

Julie Calabro

10:19

Correct Exactly and they technology A lot of the seniors don't understand technology, so just having them come in and say let me show you how to do this on your phone. You know things like that, that's good yeah. Yeah, technology is a big one. 

Juan Gallo

10:43

We're very proud of our sunshine buddies because, yeah, yeah, I was just at a center visiting, actually doing a um, you know, walkthrough um just checking out some of their rooms and your facility, and um started talking to one of the residents there and she just she needed a lot of help with her iphone. So, you know, that was the next 30 minutes for me that's it 30. Yeah, I mean, you know it wasn't bad. 

11:02

But yeah technology is a big one, so that's that's really really big deal all right, so so so if someone is, you know, young and wants to be, be a, part of sunshine buddies yeah they could just go to the website which will provide that information right towards the end of the session, right, um, okay, so. So nikki calls you, you get involved. I mean. But I mean I'm guessing as a real estate agent you ran into, you know, senior stuff, senior space stuff, but you, you must like working with older people. I mean, right, I mean to to go from that to this. 

Julie Calabro

11:39

I can't tell you how rewarding it is. I mean, I love real estate and everything, but this is just on a different level, you know. It's uh I don't want to say personalized, because real estate is very personalized as well, but it's just helping seniors, you know, and finding the safe solutions, safe living solutions for them. And going back to what you're saying, how we were different than other agencies we'll pick up the families. Let's go tour, just like you tour a home. We actually take them with us and walk them through the process. We are very proud that we don't have to charge the fee. 

12:14

We're a no cost to the families we are very proud that we don't have to charge the fee. We're a no cost to the families. So knowing that we can bring so much value to these families and peace of mind and to say we don't have to charge you anything, and they're always like are you sure? No, no, no, it's a no cost service. 

Juan Gallo

12:32

That's great that you mentioned that. My understanding of placement agencies is that you all will get paid by the place where you successfully place a person. Are you saying that there are other agencies that will charge at some point for something? 

Julie Calabro

12:53

I don't think so to my knowledge. It's just that the families don't understand it's a misconception. 

12:59

Yes, like, how can you be helping us, how can you be doing all this? And but we do explain to them we are contracted with. So in broward alone, there's over 300 um assisted living communities, right, whether it's residential meaning someone's home that they've converted or the bigger communities. So, although we're contracted with all of them, we don't necessarily tour all of them. If they have a poor care and violation history, which is something that we're very big on, is checking that care and violation history, right. So if they don't have a good one, no matter what commission they're offering, we're not gonna, we're not gonna place there, we're not even gonna tour there. So, um, so yeah, and that is how we're like an extension of their marketing team right and and do and. 

Juan Gallo

13:43

Do the lower rated homes offer more commission? Is that a fair question? 

Julie Calabro

13:48

not necessarily okay not necessarily okay it's, it's I don't want to say standard but, there's, there's usually a standard number. 

Juan Gallo

13:55

Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, but and and honestly, the way we work, that doesn't sway us either way. 

Julie Calabro

13:57

I don't want to say standard, but there's usually A standard number yeah, okay, yeah, okay. And honestly, the way we work, that doesn't sway us either way. It's what is a good fit for the senior. And how does that care and violation history look? And we go over their budget and we make sure they can afford it. We're not going to tour them this expensive, beautiful place with shiny chandeliers and then they can't even afford it because that's just gonna number one, waste their time and then just be a disappointment, right, you know? 

Juan Gallo

14:22

um, you mentioned um and I think I mentioned it too the common misconception that, wow, this is a free service right what are some of the more common misconceptions that you face when we talk about what is an ALF, or even having to move in, or, or that transition period of maybe denial, or, or I don't want to do it, is my life going to be different. What are some of the common misconceptions that you find? 

Julie Calabro

14:52

um well, there's some monetary as far as how it's paid for. Unfortunately, a lot of people coming into it think that medicare covers it when it doesn't unfortunately. 

Juan Gallo

15:04

Yeah, that's a very common yeah, so it's. 

Julie Calabro

15:07

it's, unless you have long-term care insurance, it's private pay um or long-term care medicaid which will help supplement that cost. Right, and what's that? 

Juan Gallo

15:17

price range Low to highs as far as private pay. 

Julie Calabro

15:22

Well, the mid-range, I would say it's around $4,000 to $5,500. So there's two different kinds of assisted living. There's a residential home, which is someone has converted their home into an assisted living, but it's more of a home-like environment. And then there's a bigger communities that have I don't know 80 to 120 residents. 

15:44

They both have to follow the guidelines of aka, which is governed by the florida agency health care administration correct, and so both of those have to follow the same guidelines, which is the care and violation history that we look at. So, as far as misconceptions, they think that they're going to lose their autonomy. They're going to get there and they're going to be told what to do. They can't leave Unless you're in a secured memory environment. You can leave. You can go to lunch with your family. A lot of residents drive still, so that you're going to be lonely, you're not going to meet anybody. They have what they call ambassadors, so they'll have people there to help introduce them to the community. Sometimes we have home health care that will come out and help transition them. They'll have an aide that will help with that transition. But I think that's the biggest misconception is that they're not going to be independent anymore, they're going to have to rely on everyone else. 

16:50

Honestly, socialization is so important. It's so important. So, if you find the key is, which is why we do such an extensive care and violation, I'm sorry. Extensive care, discovery is to know that it's a right fit for someone. Those, like I said, the shiny chandeliers is not for everyone. 

Juan Gallo

17:09

You said extensive discovery. What, what, what's some of the things that you're looking for, to kind of know. 

Julie Calabro

17:15

So one would be, of course, their medical history. How many medications are they on? Do they have any history of cancer or diabetes? The medications is a very big thing to know what they're on, like I was saying before, as far as what they did in their earlier life you know, just to help guide us, um, to find the right place, um, as far as, what ailments do they have right now? 

17:48

so they've had surgery on their left, shoulder, right, and that's always been a problem for them so we make sure to put in our notes when there's a caregiver, the caregiver knows be careful with that left shoulder because that left shoulder is going to be a problem for them. So you know, be mindful of those things. So we try and dig deep into their history and to just help that transition go smoothly. And the biggest thing is we don't want to have to move someone again right we want it to be their forever home, where they can age in place. So we have to get it right the first time right? 

Juan Gallo

18:22

so, yeah, that's very important, that discovery process, right? Do you know what the average life expectancy is? Is there a number to that? In other words, you play someone and is there, is there an average time? 

Julie Calabro

18:39

not necessarily okay. Um, you think you know, and then you go into a community and you're told oh, this resident is just turned 102. 

Juan Gallo

18:48

You know and we've seen a lot. 

Julie Calabro

18:50

They're just like vibrant, and so I I don. So I don't know because, it surprises me every day with what I see. 

Juan Gallo

18:59

I don't know if you saw the news, but there was a lady in Tamarack who just turned 108. 

Julie Calabro

19:03

No, I didn't see that, that's fantastic. 

Juan Gallo

19:09

She was definitely Caribbean, I want to say either from Trinidad or Jamaica. 

Julie Calabro

19:15

Oh, there you go. That's where you're from. I'm from Jamaica, from. 

Juan Gallo

19:18

Kingston, Jamaica. Kingston, jamaica, exactly, and we were talking about this earlier, but I would not guess that you're from Jamaica by looking at you, which is interesting. But that's the beauty of South Florida, right, it's? 

Julie Calabro

19:29

just a melting pot of different people. Same thing for Jamaica. Big melting pot, yeah, of different people same thing for jamaica. 

Juan Gallo

19:40

Big melting pot, yeah, british, yeah, absolutely talking about melting pot. Um, how does CarePatrol, um work with the diverse population? Um, what's your service area? Who can you talk to? Uh, in other words, I'm from Colombia. Maybe I have a family member who only speaks Spanish. What's that journey like and what's your coverage area? 

Julie Calabro

20:01

So we cover all of Broward into Miami. Dade and Nikki and myself neither one of us speak Spanish, but we have a third partner, john who is bilingual. So he will come in and help us when it comes to, you know bilingual Interesting point that you just brought up about that. So back to the dementia. So, if someone is starting with dementia and are bilingual, right and they speak English but their primary language is Spanish, they will revert back to only speaking Spanish right. 

20:37

So we want to find a place that is predominantly Spanish-speaking, the aides, the different residents, so they feel at home. So when they forget that they can speak English too, you want them to feel comfortable and be at home so we know which communities are which and which ones are primarily Spanish or English speaking, so we can help guide them that way. That's really good Right. 

21:05

And as far as okay. So South Florida, broward County is huge, right. How we split it up is Nikki handles more of the east side of the county and I'll do more of the west side, but then we're always. Both of us are there to help. So if one is unavailable, I am always there. You know, I'm here if she's unavailable and she's there if I'm unavailable well, your sister-in-law so, and we're sister-in-law, which is crazy. 

Juan Gallo

21:27

So which is crazy, but wonderful. That's awesome. I mean not not too many people. It's a testament to, I mean not too many people, it's a testament to family right Because not too many people can say that they'd want to work with their in-laws. 

Julie Calabro

21:40

The good thing about that is she has the same core values that I do. Like if our heart wasn't there, this is not the business to be in if it's just about making money. You have to care, you have to have a heart, because, as many times we do a lot of pro bono, we do a lot of say, for instance, medicaid we don't charge on medicaid, we're still going to help the family we're still going to do everything that we would do for anyone else, because it's the right thing to do. 

Juan Gallo

22:07

So that's a good, that's a good point to bring up, do you? Do you all get uh a fee as well if someone has medicaid, or at that point it's just pro bono period? 

Julie Calabro

22:17

pro bono period. Wow, okay, yeah, so you still, but we still we're still going to do the right thing they should still get the same service. 

Juan Gallo

22:24

Set that um, you know, anyone else would so good to know, because I think that's what sometimes is hard for us. We work with a diverse population, so when we have someone who has Medicaid and we need to place them, that can be hard. But it's good to know you all are there. I personally appreciate the friendship that we have with CarePatrol. You guys have been more than helpful to us Tell the audience how to get in touch with you or Nikki, and make sure you leave your website phone number, all that stuff. 

Julie Calabro

23:00

So if you Google CarePatrol, all of our numbers will be there, because you're going to ask me to recite a number that I'm not going to remember, but if you Google CarePatrol, it'll be right there. Or jcalabro@carepatrol.com for my email. Nikki Calabro is carepatrol.com for my email. Nikki Calabro is, and I'm sorry, nikki@carepatrol.com, but just google CarePatrol broward and it'll come up. All of our information will come up. 

23:27

Awesome sure and if someone's looking for sunshine, buddy opportunity then they can go to that website yes, and reach out to us absolutely after. 

Juan Gallo

23:35

We're always welcome to have new members for our sunshine buddies well, for those of you who didn't know, um julie was a little nervous to be on the podcast today. I told her it was gonna be a piece of cake and you've been talking for 23 minutes and you and you haven't even blinked an eye. 

Julie Calabro

23:50

So thank you so much for being all this well. You have made it very, very easy so I appreciate that, thank you thank you so much for tuning in again. 

Juan Gallo

24:00

This is your host, juan gallo, at heart2heart senior radio, because every heart has a story and we're here to listen.