By Thomas A. Parmalee
When families call a home care agency for the first time, they usually aren’t looking only for caregivers. They’re looking for answers.
Should Mom stay at home? What benefits are available? Is assisted living the next step? How do reverse mortgages work? What legal documents should be in place? Who can be trusted?
Those questions often extend well beyond the services a home care agency provides. According to Kelly O’Connor, vice president of strategic partnerships and growth for the Society of Certified Senior Advisors, the agencies that thrive in today’s competitive marketplace are those that position themselves as trusted guides throughout the entire aging journey — not simply providers of in-home care.
“The opportunity for home care agencies is to become the resource families turn to whenever they have questions about aging,” O’Connor said. “When you have a Certified Senior Advisor on your team, families begin to see you as an elder care company rather than just a home care company.”
That philosophy sits at the heart of the Society of Certified Senior Advisors, an organization dedicated to educating and certifying professionals who work with older adults across virtually every discipline. Founded in 1997, SCSA offers the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) credential, an interdisciplinary certification designed to deepen professionals’ understanding of aging while emphasizing ethics, communication and practical knowledge that benefits older adults and their families.
The credential is accredited by both the ANSI National Accreditation Board and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, requiring candidates to pass a comprehensive examination, complete ethics requirements, undergo a background check and maintain continuing education.
Today, nearly 3,000 professionals belong to the organization, with approximately 21% coming from home care, home health and hospice. Financial planners, insurance professionals, care managers, senior living advisors, attorneys and many others also earn the designation, creating a multidisciplinary network focused on serving older adults.
A Career Built on Service
O’Connor’s own path into aging services was anything but predictable.
After a successful career in the fashion industry, she found herself reevaluating her future following a layoff in 2010. The turning point, however, had come much earlier.
In her twenties, O’Connor watched her mother battle breast cancer before entering hospice care. Her mother died at just 52 years old.
“My first experience with senior care really came through hospice,” she said. “I remember thinking that someday I wanted to become a hospice volunteer because I wanted to support other families the way ours had been supported.”
Years later, that promise became reality.
After completing hospice volunteer training, she discovered she had a natural ability to connect with families. More importantly, she realized senior care was much larger than she had imagined.
“I thought senior care was mostly for nurses,” she said. “I didn’t understand there was an entire longevity industry. Aging isn’t just something that happens at the end of life. It’s a journey that really begins much earlier.”
Her experiences caring for two grandmothers after her mother’s death reinforced another lesson.
“I see aging as a gift,” she said. “My mom wasn’t granted a long life. That taught me life is finite and that I wanted my legacy to be one of service.”
She eventually built and sold an elder care consulting and senior placement business before joining SCSA, where she has spent the past 18 months overseeing strategic partnerships while also serving as editor of the organization’s award-winning CSA Journal.
More Than Another Credential
While professional certifications are common throughout health care, O’Connor believes the CSA designation fills a unique niche for home care providers.
“It’s really a master class in gerontology and the aging experience,” she said. “It provides the context for understanding what families are actually going through.”
Rather than focusing exclusively on caregiving techniques, the curriculum explores the broader issues surrounding aging, helping professionals understand the financial, legal, emotional, health care and social challenges older adults often face. Participation in the education program is optional, but candidates must demonstrate their knowledge by passing the certification examination.
For agency owners, O’Connor recommends having at least one Certified Senior Advisor on staff.
“The certification belongs to the individual, not the company,” she explained. “But that individual becomes an incredible resource for the entire organization.”
That expertise extends well beyond answering questions about home care.
Families frequently receive conflicting advice from neighbors, coworkers, clergy and friends, often while making decisions under tremendous emotional pressure.
“They’re getting information from so many different sources,” O’Connor said. “A lot of times they’re making very quick decisions. Having someone on your staff who can provide trusted, objective guidance helps families navigate those moments.”
Standing Out in a Crowded Marketplace
As competition intensifies, differentiation has become a huge challenge for home care agency owners.
O’Connor believes certification offers agencies another way to distinguish themselves.
“When you tell families your Certified Senior Advisor has passed a rigorous exam, completed a background check, agreed to a professional code of conduct and continues their education, that creates confidence,” she said.
Consumer awareness of the credential continues to grow as more professionals earn it.
“So much of our industry isn’t regulated the way people assume it is,” O’Connor said. “Families are asking themselves who they can trust.”
The designation, she believes, answers that question before an agency ever discusses hourly rates or care plans.
Building Better Referral Networks
The organization’s value extends beyond education.
SCSA has developed a nationwide network of Certified Senior Advisors representing dozens of professions, along with 26 regional networking groups that regularly bring members together.
For independent home care agencies especially, those relationships can become valuable referral channels.
“When I owned my own company, joining the network allowed me to meet professionals throughout the Denver area,” O’Connor said. “It helped me serve families in a much broader way than I could by myself.”
Annual conferences include dedicated business development programming focused on strengthening referral relationships with hospitals, senior living communities, elder law attorneys, financial professionals and other aging services organizations.
Many referral opportunities, she noted, develop naturally through those professional relationships.
Flexible Learning Options
Recognizing the demands on busy professionals, SCSA offers multiple pathways for preparing for certification.
Some participants choose an intensive three-day, in-person course offered in Denver or Orlando before taking the examination. Others attend live virtual classes over several weeks. The most popular option, however, is self-paced study, allowing agency owners and other professionals to work through 26 educational modules on their own schedules before sitting for the exam.
The cost of both the certification application and CSA exam fee is $395. Go to the Course Options and Pricing page for more specific pricing information on obtaining the CSA certification.
The annual renewal fee to maintain the certification is $180.
Learning Never Stops
O’Connor also oversees the CSA Journal, a quarterly publication that has received multiple Mature Media Awards for both journalism and design.
The publication features 11 to 13 in-depth articles each quarter written by researchers, university faculty, physicians, industry experts and experienced practitioners.
“It’s designed to help members continue learning while also giving them information they can use with clients and in their own marketing,” she said.
A recent issue, for example, explored reverse mortgages and how professionals — including home care providers — can better understand the role those financial tools sometimes play in helping older adults remain safely at home.
Running the Business
Having owned her own senior care business, O’Connor offered practical advice that reaches beyond clinical care.
She credits one weekly habit with dramatically improving both her effectiveness and peace of mind.
“I had one administrative day every week,” she said. “That was my time to catch up on emails and all of the administrative work. It kept those tasks from bleeding into every day, so I could stay focused on serving clients.”
She also recommends reviewing business goals monthly while thinking strategically on a quarterly basis rather than getting consumed by daily emergencies.
Perhaps her most valuable lesson, however, involved changing her mindset as an entrepreneur.
“I had to learn to depersonalize the entrepreneurial journey,” she said. “Things are going to go wrong every day in senior care. Instead of seeing those things as personal failures, I learned to see them as information and feedback that helped me improve.”
That perspective can be particularly difficult for professionals drawn to caregiving.
“We have big hearts,” she said. “We care deeply about families. But if we’re going to build successful businesses that continue serving people for years, we have to learn how to separate feedback from personal identity.”
Challenging the Myths of Aging
For O’Connor, perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding aging has little to do with health care.
She rejects the notion that growing older inevitably means decline.
She recently attended an AC/DC concert and found herself reflecting on the message.
“People assume aging means opportunities become impossible,” she said. “I don’t believe that. Living a long life is a gift. The question isn’t whether we’re getting older. It’s how we’re going to continue living with purpose.”
That perspective aligns closely with the Society of Certified Senior Advisors’ broader mission — not simply helping professionals understand aging, but equipping them to help older adults live meaningful, informed and fulfilling lives.
For home care agencies searching for ways to build trust, strengthen referral relationships and become indispensable community resources, that mission may prove to be as valuable as the credential itself.
Learn more about the Society of Certified Senior Advisors.
