We're living longer—and healthier—lives than ever before. However, there may come a time when help is needed and questions about living arrangements care arise. Most seniors want to remain in their home and a variety of home care services have become availabl
What is home care?
Home care typically refers to non-medical services, assisting individuals with activities of daily living. Home care is an increasingly popular choice for care because it enables individuals to remain in their own environments.
Home care can include simple tasks such as housekeeping, shopping, meal preparation and driving to appointments as well as personal care tasks such as bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting and even transferring from the bed to a chair or walking.
Many types of individuals, including those who are trained and supervised by agencies, provide such services. In general, home care providers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They may work by themselves or as a team on a shift, part-time, hourly, live-in, or on an as-needed basis.
Listed below is a summary of non-medical care, home health care and the other types of care available.
- Home health care is specialized medical care, provided by nurses or physical and respiratory therapists. Care providers are trained medical, health care, psychiatric professionals, or certified nurses' aides. Home health services are usually ordered by a physician and may be covered by insurance.
- Homemaker Services include help with cooking, light cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and errands.
- Personal Care can include assistance with a variety of daily living activities such as bathing, dressing, toilet use, grooming and eating.
- Adult Day Care are daily, facility-based programs for seniors who need monitoring or companionship during the day.
- Respite Care - A trained volunteer or para-professional stays with your loved one and takes over your caregiving role, whether for several hours or several days. These brief reprieves from a caregiving situation are healthy for the caregiver and also for the care recipient…a change of daily routine for both.
Tips Before hiring an Independent Provider:
- Conduct an in-depth interview the candidate, preferably in person rather than on the phone
- Be specific about all of the tasks that the provider will be expected to take on;
- Discuss salary and offer to pay wages either weekly or bi-weekly. Do not pay wages in advance
- Request both work and personal references, and check them carefully. Ask the references about reliability, trustworthiness, and punctuality as well as the care provider's ability to handle stress.
- Consider a background check. For around $100-$150 you can have this done professionally.
- Be sure to include the potential care recipient in the screening process if he or she is able to participate, to ensure that both parties are comfortable, and that your loved one's needs are respected.
- Remember to check all references, before hiring the caregiver.
