Recommendation for in home care

Lex.Martinez17

Hello,

Any recommendations for and in home caregiving service that you love?! Finding it hard to choose just any. Would appreciate some recommendations from people who have had similar experiences as me. Thank you! 

jfkoc

I used Home Instead and was pleased but it is a franchise. I also read the obits which often are a lead to some wonderful caregivers. In person support groups are a good source too.

aod326

Lex, I used a great agency to find live-in carer for DH, but they only serve NJ and I'm not sure where you are.

JJAz

Good agencies know what a good dementia caregiver is like and will only send a dementia-experienced caregiver to help you.  Other agencies will send whatever they have. Call them, and chat-them-up.  Talk to many.  Ask newby questions and LISTEN to how they select and manage their staff.  Be honest about any behavioral issues so that they don't send you a pollyanna.  If the first person doesn't work out, don't stress, try again.

I asked friends and and friends of friends who had hired caregivers for spouses and parents.  When one agency name came up 2 or 3 times from people who were satisfied  I called them.  Get the word out.  Ask ALL your personal contacts (facebook, work, bowling, local church secretaries, neighbors, etc) who might know someone who has hired in-home aides or used an agency to hire.  The best might be your local Alzheimer's support groups (don't call the Alzheimer's Association - they can't refer).  The support groups are the feet on the ground people and know everything.

Blessings,

Jamie

my3sons2.0

I am my mother's fulltime live in caregiver but have lots of experience over the past 10+ years with various in-home caregiving scenarios. Intitially it was my father and myself. It became apparent almost immediately upon mom's diagnosis that dad was a horrible caregiver. When it became too much for us (I was still working and raising a family and had a home of my own) we hired a home care agency. It wasn't an ideal situation as they were short staffed constantly so I would get calls at work from my dad complaining that he was alone with mom and it was too much for him. Tried another agency with similar results. So i cut back on my work hours to be there for my parents. Then my husband was killed in an accident. I was struggling with my grief and my responsibilities so we made the decision to hire someone privately. That worked out pretty well for several months but we needed to add more help as both my parents required 24/7 care as time passed (my dad has COPD and he is an alcoholic). For the most part the privately hired help worked out better than an agency, but we have had our share of problems with some of those individuals. The benefit of an agency is that they do all the background screening etc. Lastly there is the financial piece of it. In-home care is not cheap and Medicare doesn't cover it. I had to quit my job, sell my house and move in with my parents when they depleted their lifetime savings and retirement investments and could no longer afford to pay their help. I am the only caregiver now and I'm free. I have one person who is available to give me a night off if needed. Not sure if any of that helps. I'm multi-tasking and tend to ramble on when my attention is given several different directions.