How to hire a caregiver for in-home help

Dear Savvy Senior,

I request to prosecute a bully in-home caregiver to thief my aged begetter who lives alone. What’s nan champion measurement to do this?

Searching Sarah

Dear Sarah,

Finding a bully in-home caregiver for an aged genitor is not ever easy. How tin you find 1 that’s reliable and trustworthy, arsenic good arsenic personification your genitor likes and is comfortable with? Here are immoderate tips that tin help.

Know His Needs

Before you commencement nan task of looking for an in-home caregiver, your first measurement is to find nan level of attraction your dada needs.

For example, if he only needs thief pinch regular surviving tasks for illustration shopping, cooking, doing laundry, bathing aliases dressing, a “homemaker” aliases “personal attraction aide” will do. But if he needs wellness attraction services, location are “home wellness aides” that whitethorn do each nan things a homemaker does, positive they besides person training successful administering medications, changing coiled dressings and different medically related duties. Home wellness aides often activity nether a nurse’s supervision.

Once you settee connected a level of care, you past request to determine really galore hours of assistance he’ll need. For example, does your dada request personification to travel successful conscionable a fewer mornings a week to cook, clean, tally errands aliases possibly thief him pinch a bath? Or does he request much continuous attraction that requires regular visits?

After you find his needs, location are 2 ways successful which you tin spell astir hiring someone. Either done an agency, aliases you tin prosecute personification straight connected your own.

Hiring Through an Agency

Hiring a individual attraction aliases location wellness adjutant done an agency is nan safest and easiest option, but it’s much expensive. Costs typically tally anyplace betwixt $15 and $30 an hr depending connected wherever you unrecorded and nan qualification of nan aide.

How it useful is you salary nan agency, and they grip everything including an appraisal of your mom’s needs, assigning appropriately trained and pre-screened unit to attraction for her, and uncovering a fill-in connected days her adjutant cannot come.

Some of nan drawbacks, however, are that you whitethorn not person overmuch input into nan action of nan caregiver, and nan caregivers whitethorn alteration aliases alternate, which tin origin a disruption.

To find a location attraction agency successful your dad’s area usage hunt engines for illustration Google aliases Bing and type successful “home wellness care” aliases “non-medical location care” followed by nan metropolis and authorities your dada lives in. You tin besides usage Medicare’s hunt instrumentality astatine Medicare.gov/care-compare – click connected “home wellness services.” Most location wellness agencies connection immoderate shape of non-medical location attraction services too.

You besides request to cognize that original Medicare does not screen in-home caregiving services unless your dada is receiving expert ordered skilled nursing aliases therapy services astatine location too. But, if your dada is successful a definite Medicare Advantage plan, aliases is low-income and qualifies for Medicaid, he whitethorn beryllium eligible for immoderate coverage.

Hiring Directly

Hiring an independent caregiver connected your ain is nan different option, and it’s little expensive. Costs typically scope betwixt $12 and $25 per hour. Hiring straight besides gives you much power complete who you prosecute truthful you tin take personification who you consciousness is correct for your dad.

But beryllium alert that if you do prosecute personification connected your own, you go nan employer truthful there’s nary agency support to autumn backmost connected if a problem occurs aliases if nan adjutant doesn’t show up. You’re besides responsible for paying payroll taxes and immoderate worker-related injuries that whitethorn happen. If you take this option, make judge you cheque nan aide’s references thoroughly and do a criminal inheritance cheque astatine companies for illustration eNannySource.com.

To find someone, usage an elder-care matching work for illustration Care.com aliases CareLinx.com, which some supply basal inheritance checks.

Send your elder questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, aliases sojourn SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is simply a contributor to nan NBC Today show and writer of “The Savvy Senior” book.