My mother’s best friend will turn 90 this year, and although she prefers to continue living alone, she has found that she does need some help performing some of the work involved with running any household. With several health issues, including severe pain in her back and hips, she just isn’t able to do everything for herself any longer. She was fortunate to find a woman who comes into her home for part of a day every two weeks who will do the cleaning, take her to appointments, and grocery shop for her. Freed of these duties, she’s able to remain in her own home instead of needing to go into some type of expensive assisted living facility.
Home care for seniors is catching on in popularity, because it does offer much more pleasant options than nursing home care. Finding the proper caregiver is probably the biggest challenge. After all, you need to be very careful that the person you choose to come into your home or to care for a loved one doesn’t have character flaws, such as stealing or abusive behavior. Looking for caregiver ads in the local paper or on Craigslist gives you no assurance regarding the type of person you will be dealing with. Therefore, it’s usually the best idea to use an agency which specializes in finding and screening potential candidates for you.
Thoroughly check out any agency before you sign on with them. Make a list of agencies that are within a reasonable distance from your home. This will help narrow down your choices. Start by visiting a potential agency in order to talk with personnel directly to find out how long the organization has been in operation and what their philosophy is regarding providing caregivers. Request references from other satisfied customers which you can then call and question about their experiences with that particular agency.
Once you’ve decided on an agency, you need to discuss your needs with them fully so that they can try and match you or your loved one to a particular caregiver. Different candidates will offer a variety of different services so that you should be able to find someone to do what you need to have done. For example, some licensed caregivers are also nurses who will be able to provide health services. These specialized people will charge more, so you want to make sure you are only paying for the services you have to have. You then need to carefully scrutinize the references the agency has accumulated regarding each of the candidates you are interested in as well as request the names and phone numbers of individuals who a candidate has worked for in the past.
Once you’ve selected who you feel to be the best caregiver for your situation, you can give it a trial run. If you like what you see, then you’ll be able to continue with the person’s services. If you see things you don’t like, don’t be afraid to speak to the agency and request another candidate. You don’t have to keep anyone you don’t like, because it’s you or your loved one who is the priority here. caregiver agency hiring