Anyone have any experience with home care? My 84 year old mom needs help with all daily functions. Has a hard time getting around and would possibly like someone to stay with her while I’m at work, she’s not thrilled about being alone. Thanks
My experience is with an agency (Visiting Angels) and I'm very pleased with how that's worked out. Using an agency means I'm not an employer for a private hire and therefore don't need to pay taxes and withhold SS. With a quality agency the people are already vetted with background checks; they have subs for when your main person is sick or goes on vacation; they have other staff if yours leaves suddenly. They have ultimate responsibility if their people do something unethical or illegal. They are more expensive than a private hire, but also much less headache. My 2 aunts in south FL have had a person for 6 years who is a companion who does light housekeeping, meal prep, takes them for walks, drives them on errands and plays cards with them. They adore her. She's there about 24 hrs per week at $22 p/hr. Worth every penny to them, and I agree.
Allen61, I agree with Geaton777's post about obtaining a caregiver from an Agency. We used Home Instead.
My Dad needed to have someone around who would watch over him, make him meals, do laundry, light housekeeping, but mainly keep him company. With an Agency, the agency can send over different caregivers to see which one would be a good match for your Mom.
Dear Allen61, First of all, I'd be curious to know if your mom is even receptive to the idea of having strangers in your home while you're away at work albeit, they are professional caregivers from an agency. I know my in-laws often used "Home Instead" like freqflyer suggested and they were happy with them. However, when it came to my own mom who had always wanted to stay in her home until she passed away. That wasn't the case for us but, I sure tried. I called "Visiting Angels" and had them come to her house and go through their checklist of what types of help she needed and how often. My mom was 89 at the time but, she was not having any of it!. Two of them came - the owner and he brought a caregiver with him. He was getting frustrated with the fact that my mom was not cooperative and the caregiver who was extremely kind and gentle tried to get to know my mom. By the end of the visit, it was clear to me it wasn't going to work but, we gave it a try anyway. My mom did not like having strangers in the house, she didn't have the money for daily care which is what she would have needed, not just once a week. I gave up and began the process of looking for an assisted living facility (she wasn't happy about that either) but, something had to be done. I already had been going back and forth from my own house for ten years and it was beyond what I could do anymore. The only way to pay for any type of care was the fact that I had to sell her house. Everything else was too expensive for just the income she was getting from Social Security, School Retirement Payments and a few other sources of income left from when my dad passed away in 2004. So those would be the two questions you can ask yourself - is she willing to have professional caregivers from an agency alone with her and is there sufficient finances to cover the costs? Good luck to you both and let us know what you decide!
My Dad needed to have someone around who would watch over him, make him meals, do laundry, light housekeeping, but mainly keep him company. With an Agency, the agency can send over different caregivers to see which one would be a good match for your Mom.
First of all, I'd be curious to know if your mom is even receptive to the idea of having strangers in your home while you're away at work albeit, they are professional caregivers from an agency.
I know my in-laws often used "Home Instead" like freqflyer suggested and they were happy with them.
However, when it came to my own mom who had always wanted to stay in her home until she passed away. That wasn't the case for us but, I sure tried. I called "Visiting Angels" and had them come to her house and go through their checklist of what types of help she needed and how often. My mom was 89 at the time but, she was not having any of it!. Two of them came - the owner and he brought a caregiver with him. He was getting frustrated with the fact that my mom was not cooperative and the caregiver who was extremely kind and gentle tried to get to know my mom. By the end of the visit, it was clear to me it wasn't going to work but, we gave it a try anyway. My mom did not like having strangers in the house, she didn't have the money for daily care which is what she would have needed, not just once a week. I gave up and began the process of looking for an assisted living facility (she wasn't happy about that either) but, something had to be done. I already had been going back and forth from my own house for ten years and it was beyond what I could do anymore. The only way to pay for any type of care was the fact that I had to sell her house. Everything else was too expensive for just the income she was getting from Social Security, School Retirement Payments and a few other sources of income left from when my dad passed away in 2004.
So those would be the two questions you can ask yourself - is she willing to have professional caregivers from an agency alone with her and is there sufficient finances to cover the costs? Good luck to you both and let us know what you decide!