Do Home Care Awards, Certifications & Memberships or Accreditations matter?
Awards, Certifications and Memberships are primarily about conveying the appearance of trustworthiness. Most of them have more to do with marketing than they do with successful home care operations. Accreditations are about certifying that a business has basic business standards, policies and practices that are followed.Home Care Awards
are usually more fluff than substance. They are the least trustworthy badges you will see.
- Many "Awards" are given through paid advertising schemes.
- Others are popularity contests that don’t tell us anything about the service quality.
- We receive several “Awards” each year that we decline to pay to participate in.
Certifications & Memberships
can hold value if they reflect positive business practices. Others sound nice but don’t convey much about service quality.
- Becoming a Social Benefit Corporation demonstrates an ongoing commitment and financial investment in service quality.
- Becoming a Living Wage employer shows a similar commitment and financial investment in service quality.
- Better Business Bureau membership indicates a commitment to resolving Customer Service issues but they also promote paid memberships ahead of unpaid memberships.
- Becoming a Senior Advisor or Aging Consultant are certificates usually taken by people who do not have a background working in the care industry. It’s meant to signify expertise but often means the opposite.
- Accreditation from a recognized agency shows that the care provider has basic business standards, policies and procedures that they hold themselves to.
- Accreditation is primarily concerned with business standards and has very little to do with operating home care well and successfully.
- Accreditors include: ISO, CARF, Accreditation Canada, Canadian Home Care Association
Pro-tip: Community
Plus has been certified as a Living Wage employer since 2018. We are not currently accredited but our standards are comparable.