how to find a caregiver for elderly can be a lifesaver for your elderly loved one. However, choosing the right caregiver can be challenging for many families.
There are several options for finding a caregiver, including using a home care agency or placing an ad to find private hires. Each option has its own pros and cons.
Ask for Referrals
One of the best ways to find a caregiver is through personal recommendations. Ask friends and family if they’ve had good experiences with home care providers. You can also find recommendations through online registries that act as middlemen between families and caregivers. However, using this method places more responsibility in your hands since you have to vet the individual yourself.
A caregiver can help seniors stay in their own homes longer by running errands, helping them with meal preparation, and ensuring that medications are taken correctly and on time. Caregivers can also play an important role in establishing relationships and giving elderly patients companionship.
Many communities have specialized funding for home care that can be used to pay for temporary assistance. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging for more information. CareLink also offers training for PCAs (personal care aides) at no cost to the interested caregiver. This training is a requirement for working with elderly patients.
Look for a Local Agency
A home care agency can provide you with a long list of caregivers who have been vetted. A representative will interview you and your aging loved one to get a feel for their personality and needs.
You will need to decide whether you want a live-in or in-home personal care aide. In-home personal care aides are typically trained in bathing, dressing and eating, while live-in home health aides are often skilled in activities of daily living and can perform basic household chores.
A home care agency will also offer services such as background checks, certifications, and liability insurance to protect you in the event that a caregiver is injured while performing duties for your elderly loved one. In addition, a home care agency will usually have emergency coverage available to you to cover for sick days or last-minute cancellations. Staffing agencies and private registries also serve as middlemen, but they can be more expensive than an agency because you must pay payroll taxes and employer-related expenses.
Look for a Reputable Individual
When looking for a caregiver, it is important to find someone you can trust. Unfortunately, not every caretaker is right for your loved one — even if their heart is in the right place.
In addition to requiring background checks and confirming credentials, you should also ask for references and talk with them personally to gauge their suitability. You should also create a clear job description for the position and, if possible, include your elderly loved one in interviews to give them a chance to interact with potential candidates.
Some communities have registries that can help families find low-cost attendant care. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging to find out if there is any assistance available in your area. Additionally, you may be able to obtain private pay home health workers through long term care insurance policies or by self payment. You should note that private home health workers do not have the protections afforded to agencies employees, including worker’s compensation and unemployment benefits.
Look for Experience
Regardless of the route you take to find a caregiver, it’s important to consider the qualifications and experience of potential candidates. Using an agency that matches clients with caregivers can reduce the time spent screening and interviewing. However, it’s best to include the care receiver in interviews whenever possible. It can help to ask applicants questions about their previous experiences in home health care and how they might handle a variety of scenarios that may arise when working with your loved one.
It’s also a good idea to create a detailed job description and list the specific tasks you need someone to perform for your elderly loved one. Make sure to also list any personal qualities you are looking for, such as a compassionate individual and the ability to interact well with your older loved one. Having a clear job description will help you narrow down the number of potential candidates and make the process much more manageable.