The New Style Home Companion

The first baby boomers reached 62 this year, and they are expected to have the longest life expectancy yet of any previous generation of Americans. Therefore, there is a growing group of Americans who are relatively affluent and healthy but because of age are slowing down. This group has come to a time in their lives where they would benefit from a new style of home companion. These non-medical home companions are life enhancers, and will enable this group of fortunate Americans to truly make the best of their golden years.

The new style companion can function as a valet, housekeeper, and personal assistant. This is in contrast to the medical home companion whose assistance is needed in connection with basic life functions such as bathing and dressing or to administer to medical aliments or assist with basic life functions such as bathing and dressing.

One of the basic functions of a new style home companion is to provide support, conversation, and comradeship. Sometimes, because of the loss of a spouse or close friends, or just because everyone else is so busy, Americans find themselves isolated or unable to find someone available to accompany them to a doctor or share simple passtimes such as playing scrabble or shopping for that special something. Others may find it more enjoyable or reassuring to have a companion accompany them to a museum, play, or concert. A companion can fill these very real needs. Yes, one could push oneself beyond one’s comfort or energy level and perhaps become accustomed to doing things alone; however, hiring a companion enhances one’s life.

A companion can also help plan meals and grocery shop. These tasks can be very time consuming and exhausting on a daily basis. The companion can cook simple meals to a client’s specifications. What nicer gift to Dad from an appreciative and successful child than to provide him with someone to cook a meal and make sure that he has eaten at least one home cooked, nutritionally healthy meal a day.

A companion can run errands. Running errands to the cleaners, to the pharmacy, to the hardware store, to the library, to the shoe repair shop, to the pet shop, to the stationery store is taken for granted when one is in one’s prime, but it can be tiring and exhausting when one gets older. Even if one enjoys running errands, it can get in the way when one reaches a time in one’s life when one wants to focus on other things such as writing the next great American novel, learning Italian, or joining civic organizations.

Similarly, a companion can do light housekeeping and laundry. This luxury can make home like a hotel where someone straightens up and makes the bed each day. After a life where work or caring for others dominates, now is the time to splurge for a companion to make sure one has time to accomplish one’s personal life goals.

Unfortunately, finding a suitable companion can be daunting, and there are associated payroll and other hassles. Therefore, it is best to find one from an agency, such as Elite Home Services, LLC in New York City, that specializes in finding such companions. An agency such as Elite will hire, train, insure, and schedule qualified staff and tailor a program to meet one’s specifications. Each person might have different demands of the home companion, but in each case they will find that hiring a companion is a worthwhile life enhancer.

Just as affluent Americans have found that personal trainers help the commitment to an exercise program, career coaches help careers, and tutors pump up SAT scores, they will come to realize that companion care will enhance their lives. A companion is the ultimate life enhancer at a time in one’s life when it is critical to make the most of it. It is a gift that everyone, who can, should give himself.