Any advice on hiring a live in home health aide?

My husband had cancer and dementia, I worked and had a care taker for him in the home, for may be a month. It was not working, I place him in one of our vacant rentals, turnkey, and hired 24/7 nursing care, lasted 2 months, he was getting violent. Then to hospice. Had I to do it over, there is no way that I would do any type of home care, although, I ran background checks on the caretakers, checked references, when the caretaker showed up, I swear it was her twin sister, not the person I hired. I suggest considering to place her in a NH, if you can afford at home hospice, you can afford to place her in a excellent home.

Lieesa, I realize that having a "live-in aide" sounds like the right thing, it sometimes isn't. The live-in aide caring for a person who has Alzheimer's will be doing the job of 3-shifts of caregivers each and every day, without a break. That aide will burn out very quickly, and now you are back to square one.

As for reviews of professional caregiving agencies, just remember when you read a negative review, there are two sides to every story. A minor infraction can be blown up to major drama on a review.

I had called a caregiving agency who advertises nationally on TV, and was also one of many names on a list that the hospital had given me. A rep will come out to see what is required. Now, an agency is licensed, bonded, insured, and has worksman's comp for their employees. They handle the payroll so no worry about payroll deductions. Yes, this approach is expensive. My Dad was paying $20k per month, yes per month in my area, for his care, and he felt it was worth every penny.

Hope you find someone that works out perfectly, and gives your Mom the care she deserves. You can ask for different caregivers to come out, thus you can choose which ones would work out the best.

My LO can't be convinced to have more in-home care than a few hours a day due to feeling a loss of privacy. You may feel this too. Although we've been extremely happy with Visiting Angels in south FL, I can't vouch for any single franchise as they are all owned by different people. I concur with the seasoned commenters below who recommend transitioning to a NH. Sometimes making this decision seems so hard because we've spent many years assuming we would manage things a certain way (in a perfect world). It can be hard to let go of that. Wishing you peace in the solution.