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Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
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How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
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Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
Share a few details and we will match you to trusted home care in your area:
My mother was recently released from the nursing home, and a lot of the caregivers are late, don't call in, or show up with cold symptoms. She finally has found a good caregiver. Does anyone else have these problems?
You are lucky your mom finally found an aide whom she is happy with.
I agree with most that has been said below. It’s a difficult, low-paid job with no benefits and hardly any opportunity to lead to something more. In my area, I think they start around $16 or $18/hour as the rest goes to the agency. I honestly don’t think I could deal with the job myself for even ten times that.
My MIL fired aides for ridiculous things — cutting the sandwiches the “wrong” way or not folding the blankets and sheets the way she liked. And she accused them of stealing things which they did not do.
Im not saying your mom is like this. Only that the aides get all kinds of clients and it’s got to be a very, very tough way to make a living.
PS my dad (who had dementia) just hated the aides, period. He was sometimes hostile and almost always uncooperative with bathing, grooming, eating, letting them clean his room or change his bed sheets, changing his filthy clothes, having his blood pressure checked, or even getting up off the floor when he fell. He would sometimes yell at them to leave him there. And then my mom asked hers to do tasks that really are not part of the job, like scrub mold out of her washing machine or pull up poison ivy in her yard.
I was an in-home caregiver for 25 years and am now in the business. So I'll explain.
Number one, the caregiver probably has other clients before your mother and sometimes getting from point A to point B may take a few minutes longer than other times. Also, the care agency is supposed allow for adequate travel time between a caregiver's clients. This way no one is "late" and no one needs to stand at the door with a stop watch in one hand and the phone in the other complaining to the agency if someone is 10 seconds late.
Number two, the agency is responsible for calling the client (or their representative) to inform them that their regular caregiver is going to be out. The agency is also responsible for finding a fill-in to cover the shift. Granted, most of the time this does not happen and sometimes even I get stuck covering for a caregiver if there's no available fill-in and I'm the boss. Though how I run things is the exception rather than the rule in the homecare business. Clients and caregivers are not supposed to communicate outside of the caregiver's paid hours. Caregivers usually get fired if they give their phone numbers or email addresses out to clients. The agency who they work for handles it.
Number three. The caregivers are showing up woth cold symptoms because being a homecare worker is a hard, low-paying, crappy job with no benefits and no job security. Like I said, I did it for 25 years. I never had an agency position with paid sick time or insurance benefits. So the caregiver comes to work sick because they can't afford to lose pay.
I hope I've shed some light on the lives of in-home caregivers. The problems are usually not their fault. The fault usually lies with the homecare agency that employs them or the clients themselves.
Yes, and that is why I eventually had to find an assisted living home for my mom. The pay for home caregivers is not good and they quite often have many problems of their own, which is understandable, but very difficult to work around. The dependable caregivers are absolute angels. So treat them well, or better than well.
This is, yes, a very common problem as you can imagine. It is often one reason that home care is so impossible. When you think of it this is the same problem for working parents who have children dependent on nannies and care workers, and is a major reason for many sick calls in our country. The very young and the very old suffer the same fates in these instances.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
I agree with most that has been said below. It’s a difficult, low-paid job with no benefits and hardly any opportunity to lead to something more. In my area, I think they start around $16 or $18/hour as the rest goes to the agency. I honestly don’t think I could deal with the job myself for even ten times that.
My MIL fired aides for ridiculous things — cutting the sandwiches the “wrong” way or not folding the blankets and sheets the way she liked. And she accused them of stealing things which they did not do.
Im not saying your mom is like this. Only that the aides get all kinds of clients and it’s got to be a very, very tough way to make a living.
Number one, the caregiver probably has other clients before your mother and sometimes getting from point A to point B may take a few minutes longer than other times. Also, the care agency is supposed allow for adequate travel time between a caregiver's clients. This way no one is "late" and no one needs to stand at the door with a stop watch in one hand and the phone in the other complaining to the agency if someone is 10 seconds late.
Number two, the agency is responsible for calling the client (or their representative) to inform them that their regular caregiver is going to be out. The agency is also responsible for finding a fill-in to cover the shift. Granted, most of the time this does not happen and sometimes even I get stuck covering for a caregiver if there's no available fill-in and I'm the boss. Though how I run things is the exception rather than the rule in the homecare business. Clients and caregivers are not supposed to communicate outside of the caregiver's paid hours. Caregivers usually get fired if they give their phone numbers or email addresses out to clients. The agency who they work for handles it.
Number three. The caregivers are showing up woth cold symptoms because being a homecare worker is a hard, low-paying, crappy job with no benefits and no job security. Like I said, I did it for 25 years. I never had an agency position with paid sick time or insurance benefits. So the caregiver comes to work sick because they can't afford to lose pay.
I hope I've shed some light on the lives of in-home caregivers. The problems are usually not their fault. The fault usually lies with the homecare agency that employs them or the clients themselves.
It's up to the homecare agency they work for to treat them well first.
It is often one reason that home care is so impossible.
When you think of it this is the same problem for working parents who have children dependent on nannies and care workers, and is a major reason for many sick calls in our country. The very young and the very old suffer the same fates in these instances.