“Hiring In-Home Help” (Family Caregiver Alliance publication)

This is another terrific publication from Family Caregiver Alliance on “Hiring In-Home Help.”  Topics reviewed include:

  • Do I need assistance?
  • My loved one only wants me to help.
  • “I don’t want a stranger in my house!”
  • How do I find help?
  • Home care agency — pros and cons.  And some questions to ask the agency.
  • Private hire — pros and cons.
  • What will it cost?
  • How can I afford it?
  • How do I find the right person?
  • Write a job description including training desired, driving, transferring skills, experience with people with memory or other cognitive impairments, language skills, housekeeping, pets, smoking, and hours.  If hiring privately, also ask about wages, and are you providing food?
  • Interviewing with lots of sample questions.  Some sample questions include “What is your favorite kind of client?”  “What pushes your buttons?”  “Is there anything in the job description that you are uncomfortable doing?”  “Give an example of how you deal with someone living with memory problems.”  “How do you handle people who are stubborn?”  “What is your experience transferring some out of bed or chair and into a wheelchair?”This is good advice:  “If the care receiver is present, watch the interactions between the attendant and the care receiver. Do they only respond to you, or do they include the care receiver in their answers?”
  • Writing a contract for hiring help.
  • What are the employer’s responsibilities?
  • Communication.

Here’s a link to the webpage (which can be printed):

www.caregiver.org/hiring-home-help