Home Instead

Home Instead Senior Care is a multinational network of franchises specializing in non-medical in-home care for older people. It started in 1994. Its headquarters are in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the largest senior care franchise in the world, with 1150 independently owned and operated offices in twelve countries.  It has been described as one of the key manufacturers in the global home health care services market.

Paul and Lori Hogan founded the firm in 1994. The firm has been cited for its business success by the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times, Inc. magazine, the International Franchise Association, and TIME Magazine. Paul Hogan, the organization's CEO, was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 by the International Franchise Association.

Operations

Australia 
Martin and Sarah Warner founded Home Instead in Australia in Brisbane in 2005.  They oversee the management and operations of the master franchise and provide support to 27 franchised offices.

Austria
The Austrian operations are run by Paul Fritz, the franchise partner in Switzerland.

Canada
Since 2013 the company has organized delivery of Christmas gifts to old people who live alone in Toronto. Susan Boyko of the Kelowna operation was awarded the title of Canadian Caregiver of the Year in March 2019.

China
Operations have been established in Wuhan and Shenzhen.
Germany
Home Instead (Seniorenbetreuung) had set up 111 franchises in Germany in November 2018.

Ireland
The operation in Waterford was established in 2009 in Cleaboy Business Park and now employs 20 office staff and more than 120 care givers.  The Irish franchise annually produces The Senior Citizen & Family Carer Guidebook, which is given away.
Netherlands
The firm expanded into the Netherlands in 2011, where it is known as Home Instead Thuisservice. It started operating in South West Friesland in March 2019, where the franchise is held by Ronald and Thea Keuning.  

The Enschede region franchise, which opened in 2018 was the 24th operation in the Netherlands.

Switzerland
The operation was started in 2007 and has 18 branches. The Home Instead affiliate in Switzerland acquired about 60% of the master franchise for Ireland in 2017.

United Kingdom
Martin Jones, based in Warrington is the Managing Director of Home Instead Senior Care in the UK. He is also involved with Business in the Community He sees the company as a major provider of community-based care in line with the strategy outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan. He spoke at the Future of Care conference in London in March 2019, discussing the place of robotics in senior care.

In 2019 the organization had 40 Care Quality Commission ‘outstanding’ ratings across England.  This was 20% of the English network, which compared to an average 2% in the social care sector.  They won the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation in 2016)  At that time they had 56 offices and in 2019 they had 195, with about 10,500 clients and about 9,500 caregivers.    Staff are matched with clients that share their interests, and all home visits are at least an hour.

The York & Malton franchise was also rated outstanding in 2018. The CQC reported:  ‘The culture at Home Instead Senior Care is exceptionally open, honest and caring, demonstrating a commitment to putting their clients and staff at the heart of everything they do.’  Home Instead Senior Care North Oxfordshire, which provides personal care to 36 people living in their own homes in the community was rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in 2019. Their report said "We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from people, relatives and professionals on how staff had developed caring relationships with people and their relatives."  Visits were over an hour, which is unusual in the sector.  Home Instead Senior Care Canary Wharf was inspected in March 2018 and rated outstanding.  The inspector reported that " Two hour minimum visits allowed people and their care workers the opportunity to develop highly positive and caring relationships that took into account people's individual needs and interests."   Comitis L11 Limited, which trades as Home Instead Senior Care Brentwood was inspected in August 2018 and rated outstanding.  It gives personal care to 80 people living in their own homes. The inspector reported that "People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice."  Home Instead Senior Care in Havant, Hampshire was rated outstanding at its first inspection and Debbie Westhead, the Care Quality Commission interim chief inspector for Adult Social Care, said she was delighted to be able to congratulate Home Instead Senior Care for another overall ‘Outstanding’ rating and that the quality of care which their inspectors found was exceptional. 

The firm was awarded a Five Star Employer award by the human resources company WorkBuzz in December 2018.  Home Instead Bolton made a public commitment to pay the Real Living Wage, £9 an hour, rather than the £8.21 national living wage in March 2019.

In March 2019 the franchise in Ipswich held a nutrition workshop for older people.

Home Instead Wirral was inspected and rated Outstsanding in 2019 (then known as Home Instead Senior Care Wirral). The inspector’s comments were that ‘The registered provider and management team worked extremely effectively and proactively together. We found they were excellent role models in the provision of high care standards. There was a positive leadership style which focussed upon dignity, independence and empowerment for both people supported by the service and caregivers.’

Home Instead Liverpool South (Senior Care Services Ltd) was also inspected and rated Outstandng by CQC in 2019. The commission’s inspection report commented; ‘People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.’ 

Home Instead UK was ranked #3 in the Financial Times list of the UK’s Best Employers 2025, which lists 500 companies after an independent survey from a sample of about 20,000 employees. Notably, the dominant sector from the inaugural 2025 ranking is Healthcare & Social, with Home Instead setting the standard.

United States
Jeff Huber is the President and Chief Executive Officer.

The firm has made an investment in GrandPad, a tablet technology company based in California which is intended to reduce client loneliness and improve social connectivity.

The franchise in Granville, Ohio, opened in 2004, has about 200 volunteers and is regularly at the top of the annual surveys of caregivers across the world.

The franchise in Grants Pass, Oregon cares for about 115 clients. About 40 have Alzheimer's or a similar medical diagnosis.

In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2018 the Home Instead Senior Care® network was listed No. 1 overall in franchisee satisfaction among all categories, as announced by Franchise Business Review.

The company finds it difficult to recruit staff because pay in the sector is not competitive.

The company won the J.D. Power President’s Award for its commitment to caring for older adults and exceeding customer’s expectations in 2018.

References

Further reading
 Stages of Senior Care: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Best Decisions (paperback), Paul and Lori Hogan, McGraw-Hill, 2009, , 

Other websites

Category:Social care
Category:Companies based in Nebraska
Category:Companies of England