When you’re young, it’s easy to take your feet for granted, but healthy feet are critically important in maintaining your independence and quality of life as you age.
Alabama Foot Care at Home provides quality, in-home foot care for seniors and the homebound.
Routine foot care is essential for seniors, because even minor issues – wounds and ingrown toenails, for example – can lead to serious complications, including infections, if left untreated. They may even require hospitalization
Not only that, but many homebound patients are not getting the foot care they need.
“I've witnessed the critical need for accessible foot care first-hand,” says Jason Patterson, who founded Alabama Foot Care at Home in 2023.
Patterson has 14 years of nursing experience in acute care, primary care, hospice and home health. An Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, Patterson also become a Certified Foot Care Specialist (CFCS) through the American Foot Care Nurses Association in 2023.
At Alabama Foot Care at Home, Patterson offers skin and nail assessments; nail trimming and filing; treatment of fungal nails, corns and calluses; neurological and diabetic foot examinations; and massage for the feet and lower legs to stimulate blood flow and prevent swelling.
“It is preventive care to save limbs,” Patterson says. “This includes diabetics, cancer patients, people on blood thinners, patients with neuropathy or bad circulation. You can find the problem much earlier before it becomes a big problem.”
Alabama Foot Care at Home also offers foot health education, including information regarding proper footwear, and referrals to podiatrists and other medical care as needed.
The work he does with older and homebound patients is “incredibly gratifying,” Patterson says. “I try to provide the best quality routine foot care, which is what most of these people need.”
Patterson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing at UAB in 2011 and 2016, respectively. He earned his certification as a nurse practitioner in 2016. He also worked at UAB for eight years.
Patterson’s interest in helping older people goes back to his student days at UAB, when he worked in a geriatric psychiatry department at another local hospital.
“I felt good about taking care of older people who really needed the help – especially at their most vulnerable time,” Patterson said.
After becoming a nurse practitioner, Patterson helped provide in-home primary care for seniors through UAB Geriatrics.
“One service that we could not consistently get for these patients was podiatric services,” he says. “This need went unmet, and that could lead to hospitalization.”
This gave Patterson the idea for Alabama Foot Care at Home.
Amberly Hammack, a registered nurse, is part of Patterson's team and has nearly completed her CFCS certification.
In addition to individual patients, Alabama Foot Care at Home partners with nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospice agencies.
Alabama Foot Care at Home doesn’t accept insurance and Medicare, and all visits are private pay.
By avoiding insurance red tape, Patterson can give patients “more immediate access to care,” he says.
“I can provide the care I know they need and not the care that the insurance company dictates I should give them,” he says.
For information, call 205-739-4581 or go to alabamafootcareathome.com.
