How do you go about finding a caregiver?

In my case, "word of mouth", A relative had used her.

shatter1, another way to find Caregivers is to go on the Internet and type in Caregivers along with your city or zip code. If you live in a large metro area, there would be tons of Agencies to choose from.

Said Agencies usually charge an hourly rate, and the Rep will come to your home and do an "interview" to see what is needed, and to meet your Mom. A
professional Agency is usually licensed, bonded, insured and has workman's comp for their Caregivers. Yes, they will be expensive, but you have the advantage of if the Caregiver assigned to a shift is unable to make it, the Agency will quickly find another Caregiver to fill in. You can always ask for another Caregiver if you don't think it is a good match for your Mom, nothing wrong with doing that.

Now, you can also hire someone you know to be the Caregiver but that person might not have the experience to know how to handle an Elder who has certain needs. Or hire off an Ad. If you hire someone outside of an Agency as an "independent contractor" you need to make sure they pay their quarterly estimated taxes. Oh, another thing I found out recently, if you hire from outside of an Agency, you would need to have a "workman's comp" rider on your home insurance in case that person gets hurt on the job.

Glad you are asking about this. The more you know about the process the better :)

Go up to the Senior Care bar at the top of the page. Lookup your local Area Agency On Aging in your county. They generally have a wealth of information and sometimes case managers.

Depends on what you need. Companion sitters are cheap. Home Health Aides or Personal Care Aides are more. Cooks and Cleaners even more than that. Chauffeurs top the list charging by the hour plus mileage.