When Scottsdale resident Bina Colman’s father was diagnosed with dementia in 2009, the family did everything it could to keep him home as long as possible.
Eventually, though, things became too much and they put him in a nursing home where he was safe until he finally succumbed to the disease in 2019.
Working full-time as well as being a mom and wife, Colman always felt there was something missing in her father’s care.
Then it occurred to her, her father could have used another friendly voice to talk to.
That’s when Colman, who has a bachelor’s in gerontology and has worked full-time as a care coordinator, started her own company, Compassionate Callers.
The company can call a loved one up to five times a day, seven days per week for five to 10 minutes each time.
She can do everything from reminding members to take their medications on time to making sure they are getting their groceries delivered. Or, she is happy to just be a friendly voice for people who can’t leave their home without someone’s help.
Pete Cannamela’s daughter signed him up about a month and a half ago.
Cannamela, 74, is sold on the service.
“At first I thought, this is nothing I’m interested in,” Cannamela said.
But after a couple of calls, he could see the value in the service.
“With the Parkinson’s that I have, I forget things and a lot of the time it’s my pills, so it’s very good,” Cannamela said. “I stay with my pills so I am staying healthy.”
Plus Cannamela, who has to rely on others to get out of his home, just likes talking to Colman. His wife passed away 12 years ago and he lives by himself.
“I can use all the company I can get,” Cannamela said. “She’s just very friendly and we talk. She asks how I’m doing. It’s nice to just have somebody give you a call and talk to you for two or three minutes.”
Colman has one customer who only speaks to her and their one caregiver who comes once a day.
“It’s wonderful, he just fills me in on his day; not that he does much but he just loves telling me about his car or his lawn,” she said. “It’s just another person to talk to.”
Some situations are more serious, though.
She called one client and noticed that he sounded different than usual. She notified his homecare agency and geriatric care manager and it turned out he had a urinary tract infection.
“I felt really good about that because me pointing it out and his caregiver getting him a test, a blood draw, it turns out he had a UTI and we were able to take care of it right away,” Colman said.
In another instance, Colman had a client who wasn’t answering her phone calls. She called the police, who sent an emergency medical technician to his house. It turns out the client was fine and had just lost his phone, but things could have been much worse.
The majority of Colman’s clients are seniors, but they’re not the only ones she can serve. She can even call latchkey kids whose parents are busy at work after school, who need reminders to do homework and chores.
Compassionate Callers is headquartered in Scottsdale but can handle clients across the country. Colman’s most distant client lives in Colorado.
For more information, visit https://www.compassionatecallers.com/
J. Graber can be reached at jgraber@iniusa.org. We invite our readers to submit their civil comments pro or con on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
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