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WATERTOWN - When Lisa Taccardi was a nurse's aide in a convalescent home eight years ago, she was unsatisfied with the amount of time the staff was allotted to each patient. "I was frustrated because I felt I could offer more on my own, she said. Taccardi now owns a business where emphasis is placed on giving personal attention to clients. Angels Watching Over You, which Taccardi opened last fall, recently celebrated its opening at a new location on Main Street in Watertown. The service combines social workers, patient advocates, audiologists, podiatrists, optometrists, licensed massage therapists and nutritionists.

After leaving the convalescent home, Taccadi worked as a nurse's aide in private practice in Southbury's Heritage Village. During that time, she saw the number of services available to elderly patients and realized that those clients could be better serviced if those services were combined.

In researching services to the elderly, Taccardi found that most offered care for only a few hours a day. She felt that 24-hour care was needed by more clients.

Under the Angel's service, registered nurses and nurse's assistance and companions are present in client's home 24 hours a day, although some clients require only 16 hours of care, she said.

The staff works in eight, 12 or 24 hour shifts and effort is made to keep the same workers in a particular home. Taccardi understands that too many unfamiliar faces are unsettling to clients, so she tries to maintain continuity. "My ultimate goal is to provide primary care givers for each case," she said. "What may seem like a minor change to you or is major for (an on older client). I'm very sensitive to that," she said.

Having the same staff work with a particular client also ensures more personalized attention, she said. "It's not just going in and assessing their illness, but dealing with them on a spiritual and emotional level." Unfortunately, sometimes in medicine we treat the symptom and not the person," she said. The length of time spent with clients also allows for more in-dept care, she said.

In addition to medical services, Angels Watching Over You also offers patient advocates, which Taccardi said is a growing trend. Increasing, she said, clients' attorneys, or those who have power of attorney, will hire a patient advocate to ensure that their client is properly cared for, she said. Patient advocates work on behalf of residents of convalescent homes to monitor their care.