Many years of below-par support forced Karen and her Mum, Yvonne, to rethink their entire home care plan. Their ‘leap of faith’ to change providers and begin self-managing services quickly vaulted them from ‘dismay’ to total relief. Here’s their story.
Part I: Struggling with Below-Par Support
Changing home care providers can be daunting.
Sometimes, though, a situation can become so challenging, home care recipients and their families have no choice but to take a leap of faith.
That’s exactly how Karen Mayes describes transferring her Mum’s care.
‘It took a lot of courage,’ Karen says. ‘It’s like the saying, “Better the devil you know” — we were in that state for quite some time.’
Karen’s Mum, Yvonne, was with her previous home care provider for about 10 years. Described by Karen as a ‘well-known provider,’ the company became so inconsistent with services and communication that Karen and Yvonne reached a tipping point.
‘There were many, many years of below-par service,’ Karen recalls now. ‘We got to the stage where nothing surprised us.’
‘We were so dismayed.’
Yvonne, who is 85 years old and on a Level 3 Home Care Package, lives independently in a remote area. Despite complications from osteoporosis that affect her mobility and leave her easily fatigued, her mind remains sharp and she’s a whiz on an iPad.
With her previous provider, Yvonne missed out on so many services that she accumulated a large surplus of unspent funds. However, she had no way of using that money; her support workers often cancelled visits at the last minute, and frequent case manager changes meant that Yvonne never experienced any continuity of care.
‘The real crunch came when Mum was assessed for a higher level of care,’ Karen says. ‘While developing the care plan [with our provider], I realised they would not be able to provide those services—the fees were going up, but there was no possible way they’d be able to provide the additional services.’
‘It was all there on paper, but the difference between that and it being consistently implemented just wasn’t realistic.’
That was a startling moment for Karen: realising her Mum needed more support, and knowing she wouldn’t get it.
Something had to change.
Part II: Taking the Leap
Karen is retired, and sometimes she travels for weeks at a time. When she’s away, she needs to know her Mum is safe and well cared for. But even when she’s not away, Yvonne’s care must be reliable and consistent—she still lives on her own, and she needs quite a bit of daily support
The mother-daughter duo started exploring self-managed home care, hoping it would give them more control over Yvonne’s services and help them cut ties with their unreliable provider.
A new care path felt intimidating, though. Karen and Yvonne had no experience self-managing home care services, and they’d been with their previous provider for so long, switching to a new one seemed like a risky move.
Then one day, they stumbled on The CareSide.
‘Mum actually found The CareSide on her iPad,’ Karen recalls with a laugh.
‘It was the lower fees, straight up. Mum was like, “It can’t possibly be true” — but it definitely was true!’
The CareSide’s transparent pricing caught Yvonne’s eye, but when Karen reached out on behalf of her Mum, she quickly learned there was a lot more to be excited about.
‘If our initial interactions with The CareSide weren’t so positive, we would’ve never made the move,’ she says. ‘It was the speed [of the] responses in those very initial stages—the timeframe with which everything was made clear to us.’
Changing home care providers and switching to self-managed care were both foreign concepts to Karen and Yvonne, so much so that they didn’t know what questions to ask while searching for a new provider. They felt hopeful about The CareSide, but they had concerns—especially in regards to logistics.
Karen and Yvonne live in a remote region, and The CareSide doesn’t have a physical office nearby. They wondered: Would such distance leave them feeling unsupported and isolated, just like they had with their previous provider?
‘That’s never been the case,’ Karen says now. ‘The fact that there’s no office in our nearest town doesn’t make a difference—everything is so much better.’
Karen explains how Carla, Yvonne’s Care Manager, has been on their side from the start. Carla answered every question they had during those initial interactions and helped them navigate a smooth transition from their previous provider.
Because that was the other big concern: transferring Yvonne’s care without experiencing a gap in her services.
‘The hardest thing for us to do was take that leap, to cut ties with the other guys and give them that letter of notice,’ Karen shares. ‘We were a bit scared, we were anticipating what might happen based on how things had been going and how we’d been let down previously.’
But that all changed once Karen began communicating with The CareSide team.
‘Every single time we touched base with The CareSide, we were given as much information as we needed, and we were always offered to reach out again if we needed more information or if things weren’t clear,’ Karen explains.
In hindsight, Karen believes she and Yvonne could’ve made the transition even sooner. But she finds solace knowing they took their time while learning everything they could about transferring home care providers and self-managing services.
Part III: Feeling Supported—and Relieved
Yvonne joined The CareSide in July 2024, and Karen sums up what they’re feeling now in one word: relief.
‘The difference is amazing, it’s like a cloud has lifted,’ she says with a smile. ‘We feel so much more in control of Mum’s care, and she feels so much more secure knowing that someone is going to be there for her consistently.’
‘She knows her hours, what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and who is going to be there with her.’
As a client with The CareSide, Yvonne receives help with day-to-day activities, such as grocery shopping and completing chores around the house. She likes to keep her home tidy, and having a provider that respects her preferences has made a noticeable difference to her overall wellbeing.
Yvonne’s support workers also accompany her to appointments, where their calming presence and thoughtful questions make a big difference.
‘If she were there by herself, she’d be overwhelmed,’ Karen explains. ‘Having someone who’s understanding, and who has a bit of history with her—Mum always comes away feeling that all of her needs from that day were addressed.’
And then there’s Yvonne’s Care Manager, Carla.
Carla helped Karen and Yvonne navigate the transition from their previous provider, and she’s still with them today. Ask Karen how she feels about Carla, and it becomes clear almost immediately that Carla provides the stability, continuity of care, and reliable communication that Karen and her Mum simply didn’t have before their switch to The CareSide.
And they don’t take that peace of mind for granted.
‘Carla has 100% delivered on everything I’ve ever asked of her, and she’s honest and upfront about it,’ Karen says. ‘That’s the difference with The CareSide—everyone seems to have their finger on the pulse.’
‘We’ve never been happier.’
