Beyond the Task List: How LiveBetter at Home Built Home Care That Actually Notices

When a family calls a home care agency, they usually aren’t calm. Mom just fell. Dad is coming home from the hospital on Friday. The siblings have been splitting nights and they are running on empty.

In this Care Across America Provider Spotlight, Valerie VanBooven, RN, BSN sits down with Jeremy Allen, CEO, LHCA. Jeremy owns LiveBetter at Home in Edmond, Oklahoma, with his wife, Megan. He makes one point clear from the start:

“Families need to be able to trust you even when they don’t know you, and they need to be able to build that trust quickly.”

Here’s how his team earns that trust, and why it starts long before anyone walks through a client’s front door.

The Quick Version

Short on time? Here’s what you’ll learn from the conversation:

• Why Jeremy got into senior care: Sunday church rides, two sets of grandparents and a degree in gerontology

• What LiveBetter looks for in a caregiver: Experience helps, but heart matters more

• The Guided Living™ approach: Five pillars that shape training, hiring and every visit

• The Guided Living™ Journal: The binder in every client home that keeps caregivers, nurses and families on the same page

• The RN difference: Assessments that go further than most agencies

It Started With Sunday Rides to Church

Jeremy’s “why” goes back to his childhood. Every Sunday, his family picked up a couple from Spanish Cove, a retirement community in Yukon, and drove them to church. They couldn’t get there on their own.

That early example stuck. So did the time he spent with his grandparents:

• He grew up within 10 minutes of both sets of grandparents and spent a lot of time with them

• At 20, he started teaching Sunday school for the oldest class in his church

• His family cared for both of his grandmothers, with cousins, aunts and his mom splitting days and nights

He watched that system work, and then watched it stop working. That’s when they needed help.

That experience shaped how he sees aging:

“This is my grandmother, and she’s not the same. She doesn’t operate the same that she used to, but she’s still my grandmother.”

Jeremy went on to earn a degree in gerontology from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City. He has now spent 20 years in senior care.

Family Caregiving Is Hard. Respite Helps.

Valerie points out something every family caregiver knows. Caring for a parent is rewarding, but it can wear everyone down.

That’s where home care fits:

• Respite care lets a family caregiver take a day off, or even just a few hours

• Consistent support keeps everyone healthier, safer and less burned out

• A good agency becomes a guide for families who are figuring this out for the first time

What LiveBetter Looks For in a Caregiver

Ask Jeremy what he hires for, and experience is only the starting point. LiveBetter welcomes people who have cared for family members, or even for children, not just people with professional experience.

What matters most is heart.

“It takes a special person to do that.”

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• A real desire to care for people, not just a paycheck

• The ability to handle stress and the weight of being responsible for someone

• Joy on the good days: activities, outings and time together

• Patience on the hard days, when a client is confused, grumpy or just not having it

• Empathy and compassion, and seeing every client as a human being

Valerie adds a key point. When the same small group of caregivers knows a client well, they notice when something is off and know when a bad day isn’t the client’s normal.

Guided Living™: Care Built on Five Pillars

Most home care comes down to a task list. Help with a shower. Get dressed. Make meals. Do some light housekeeping. Those tasks matter, and every agency does them.

LiveBetter asks more questions. How is Mom doing emotionally? How is her overall wellbeing?

That’s the idea behind Guided Living™, a care approach Jeremy’s team created and trademarked. It’s built on five pillars that shape their training, their hiring and every visit:

1. Safety and Stability

2. Function and Independence

3. Emotional and Social Wellbeing

4. Cognition and Routine

5. Family Confidence

The first four pillars are designed to lead to the fifth. When families can see what’s happening, they can trust the care their loved one is getting.

Why It Matters in a Crisis

Families usually call when things are already chaotic. Jeremy’s goal is simple:

• Build trust fast, even before the family knows the team

• Get help in place right away

• Bring calm instead of adding more chaos

The Binder That Stays in the Home

Guided Living™ doesn’t just live in a brochure. Every LiveBetter client home has a Guided Living™ Journal.

Here’s How It Works

• Caregivers follow set steps that capture information for each of the five pillars

• The clinical department reviews the notes from every shift, every day

• Families stay informed through a HIPAA-compliant system, so the notes don’t just sit in a binder

According to LiveBetter, the Journal also includes:

• A daily checklist for every shift

• A “who your loved one is” section covering preferences, history and what matters to them

• Medical history, allergies and a current medication list in one place

• Weekly supervisor reviews and monthly trend reviews

• A family page for upcoming appointments and the wins worth celebrating

Catching Problems Before They Become Emergencies

For hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, discharge planning comes down to one question: will this patient end up back here?

Guided Living™ is designed to help answer that. Jeremy explains that the approach is built to:

• Catch small changes before they turn into bigger issues

• Help reduce rehospitalization

• Give families confidence that their loved one is being cared for well

That’s why LiveBetter works closely with referral partners who want their patients going home with real support.

A Playbook for Caregivers, Too

Here’s a side of Guided Living™ that doesn’t get talked about enough: it helps caregivers.

Jeremy hears it from new hires all the time. They say their last agency sent them to someone’s home knowing nothing about the person, and it was overwhelming.

At LiveBetter, caregivers get:

• A routine

• A clear structure for every visit

• A detailed overview of each client’s care needs

• A review process with their team before and during their work

Better-prepared caregivers mean better days for clients.

The RN Difference

Oklahoma requires non-medical home care agencies to have a registered nurse. At most agencies, the RN’s role ends after the basics:

• An initial assessment

• Skills checks

• Supervisory visits

LiveBetter’s RN goes further. After the initial assessment, the team comes back to complete functional assessments with every client, which may include:

• Fall risk assessments

• Memory-based assessments

They also bring added value into the home:

• Chair yoga

• Memory and retention activities

• A balance program

As Valerie notes, fall safety is huge. Cluttered spaces and throw rugs are easy to fix once someone is looking for them.

Serving the Oklahoma City Metro

LiveBetter at Home is based in Edmond, Oklahoma and serves:

Edmond, Oklahoma City, Moore, Norman, Choctaw, Chickasha, Guthrie, Bethany, Piedmont, Yukon and Mustang.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Guided Living™?

Guided Living™ is LiveBetter at Home’s approach to care. It’s built on five pillars: Safety and Stability, Function and Independence, Emotional and Social Wellbeing, Cognition and Routine, and Family Confidence.

How do families stay informed?

Caregivers document each shift in the Guided Living™ Journal kept in the home. The clinical team reviews the notes daily, and families get updates through a HIPAA-compliant system.

Does LiveBetter at Home have a nurse?

Yes. LiveBetter’s RN completes the initial assessment, then follows up with functional assessments such as fall risk and memory-based assessments.

What areas does LiveBetter at Home serve?

Edmond, Oklahoma City, Moore, Norman, Choctaw, Chickasha, Guthrie, Bethany, Piedmont, Yukon and Mustang.

Ready to Talk About Care at Home?

If your family is starting to need more help, or you’re a discharge planner looking for a partner you can trust, reach out to LiveBetter at Home.

LiveBetter at Home is a proud member of Care Across America, an Approved Senior Network® resource.