In Woodbury: Abbey Road Home Care Seeks to Offer Personalized Home Care

As seen in VoicesNews.com

Jane (above) and Hal Hutchison do more than match people with the live-in or live-out aides they need at Abbey Road Home Care. The Hutchisons moved from Weston, where they ran their business for 20 years, to Woodbury, in the fall of 2021 to be near family. The Hutchisons are happy to talk and share a wealth of information garnered from years of experience. Additional information may be had by calling 203-571-8807 or visiting www.abbeyroadhomecare.com.

WOODBURY, CT - November 9, 2022 - At Abbey Road Home Care, Jane and Hal Hutchison do more than match people with the live-in or live-out aides they need. "We spend time learning about our clients and what makes them unique," Ms. Hutchison told Voices, explaining that clients are more than patients who may need help dressing, eating, bathing, light housework, grocery shopping or transportation. "We can match them with the aides with whom they have something important in common. I think that even improves the health of our clients."

Her husband and business partner Hal, agreed. "Healthcare should be a very personalized experience and one of our highest priorities is to provide a service on that personalized level."

Recently, a man in his 60s experiencing early onset dementia was paired with an aide who loves to play pickleball as much as he does, providing him with companionship in the activities he loves, such as going to lunch and walking the dog so that his wife can have time for herself.

''They have a close relationship," Ms. Hutchison said.

The Hutchisons moved from Weston, where they had run their business for 20 years, to Woodbury in the fall of 2021 to be near their family.

"Before we were helping people in the field of elder care, we ran a nanny service. That was a lot of fun and successful but, after we met the families and connected them to their new nannies, things would run so smoothly that we didn't have much of a relationship with them," Ms. Hutchison said.

The couple has found their current niche more rewarding.

Mr. Hutchison said, "Sometimes we speak on a daily basis with family members and talk about how their moms and dads are doing. That's the part we love. After a while, it feels like they are a part of our family. Some people don't like to sit and listen but I love to hear stories from people. I have heard the greatest stories and could listen to them forever."

Ms. Hutchison likes how she feels when she can help someone. "They can be stressed and not know where to turn to find help."

Those who call for assistance will always find the Hutchisons at the other end of the line.

''You will never get an answering service or calling tree with us," Ms. Hutchison explained.

She continued, "When a person wakes up in the morning, they aren't looking forward to spending time with a person there to help with basic needs. They want to spend the day with someone whose company they enjoy and has something in common with them.

"I think that's why we've been successful. Once we get a client, they stay with us because there is that personalization in both matching clients to aides, and Jane and I are the ones who solve problems."

The couple realizes their responsibility to both parties.

"Our aides like us because of how we treat them," Mr. Hutchison said. "What we do, between interviewing clients to make sure we have the right match, addressing issues ourselves, and supporting our aides when they need us, can be time-consuming but people appreciate the way we work."

"At a time when there is a labor shortage, we find ourselves lucky with loyal aides," Ms. Hutchison said, ''They are also loyal to clients. When someone needs extra coverage, the aides will often volunteer to work longer hours rather than insist we find additional aides.

"They want to be there for the client and that helps us to make people's lives easier at a time when their loved ones are struggling with what was once easy or ill."

As aides are interviewed, the Hutchisons ask why they want to do the work.

"If they tell me they have a calling, I know we're on the right track," Mr. Hutchison said, explaining that the key is to seek out relationships and not money. "After I started working as an engineer, I got my MBA and ended up in the executive search business. I've been self-employed since 1977 and I think I've been successful because I focus on the people."

The couple credits their series of interviews with the positive results from the firm that performs their background and reference checks. Mr. Hutchison noted, "In the hundreds performed, they haven't found a problem yet."

The network that Hutchison has built over the years hasn't let them down when they moved to an area where they literally knew no one outside of their own immediate family.

"We've reached out to organizations and neighbors, finding people are so wonderful. I consider this a magical place to live," Ms. Hutchison said, noting she enjoys the activities available to residents as she settles into her new home but maintains connections to her past.

"We still have clients in Fairfield County as well as the new clients from that area and now Litchfield County." She added that snowbirds have come to rely on Abbey Road Home Care, so that, while they are based in Connecticut, the couple has provided aides as far away as Florida.

"I like challenges," Ms. Hutchison said, describing a client's wife who appeared to be exacting. "I came to appreciate that she needed control as her husband was experiencing dementia. She might ask for the glass of orange juice to be in a particular spot in relation to the plate or the sheets on a bed to be tucked in a special way, but that was where she had power over her life."

"Difficult clients are okay, but abusive are not," Mr. Hutchison said, explaining that both clients and aides must be happy with the relationship, and recalling a man who would spend the time to create activities for his mother and would need feedback from aides to know how she was doing. "We try to reduce frustration on both sides.

"To do this job well, you have to feel responsible beyond the narrow limits of making money. I feel I've left the world a little better in the evening than how it was in the morning if I can help someone. If someone is unsure if we can help, I'd rather they call and we talk. We have been doing this for long enough that we can share resources even if we don't match you with an aide."

Anyone can get more information or just a chat by calling 203-571-8807. The Hutchisons are happy to talk, share a wealth of information garnered from years of experience and maybe find a new friend.

More information is available at www.AbbeyRoadHomeCare.com.