Most families don’t think about in-home care for a loved one until a major event happens. Such as a fall, a stroke, or some other serious injury or condition. In crisis mode, families may rush into a partnership with the first available care provider who may or may not fully meet their wants or needs. Therefore, we will be explaining 3 steps for choosing the right home care agency.
Step 1: Do Your Research
It’s no surprise that the internet is the first place that most people go when they need to find information on home health care. But before you do that, you and your loved one should discuss what level of care is needed for them to remain living at home safely. Do they just need a little help with chores around the house or grocery shopping? Or do they need more advanced help, perhaps with showering or taking medications? Once you have an idea of what type of care you are looking for, you could start your searching. These things need to be included: Home care, Nursing care, Personal care, Alzheimer’s/dementia care, or Senior transportation.
Step 2: Ask for Recommendations
A personal recommendation goes a long way in finding a trusted home health care agency. Ask your extended family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues and reading people recommendations online. They may know someone who has needed in-home care or may have arranged care for a loved one themselves.
Also recommend getting advice from professionals in the medical field about in-home care agencies. Ask your doctor, your loved one’s doctor, nurses, and others who work in this industry for recommendations. If you’ve found a few agencies near you during your research, ask your medical professionals if they have an opinion about those agencies.
Step 3: Interview your top choices
Once you’ve narrowed your options, it’s time to start making phone calls, and setting-up in-person interviews. Just like a job interview, this gives you another opportunity to confirm which provider is the best choice before you hire them.
We’ve provide a list of interview questions to ask home care agencies. In addition, I recommend comparing agencies’ answers to questions like the following:
- Are the caregivers new, or do they have experience before you hire them?
- Do you perform background checks on your providers, check their credentials and test them for drugs?
- How do you train caregivers and test their competency?
- How will you make sure the caregiver is a good fit for my loved one?
- Will my loved one have a consistent caregiver, or will there be different people in and out of the home?
- Who will oversee the care my loved one receives from your caregivers?