Time for Part-Time In-Home Help?

LJCHR

My DH is stage 5 and digressing. I am looking for part-time in home help. I have Osteoarthritis in left knee and my stamina is not what it used to be. How do you determine when is the proper time and how much time? Does the in home help clean house, etc?

I'm in the information gathering stage but realize it will be in the next few months. Would appreciate anything you could share to help me get started on this. Always decisions to make!

White Crane

my husband is now in memory care, but when I was in your situation, I started by calling the area agency on aging. They interviewed me to determine our needs. I was given several hours a week of respite care that meant that a caregiver came into our home and stayed with my husband while I ran errands or did other things around the house. They also sent a shower aid to help with showers. I didn’t qualify for house cleaning as I was able to do it myself. All of this free as we qualified for the help . I hope this helps.

harshedbuzz

@LJCHR

I feel like it's important to figure out what you want your helpers to do.

Do you need respite so you can get out? Do you need companion/home health aide to assist with showers and dressing? Or do you need a cleaner?

You might need 2 kinds of people— a HHA to assist with your DH as well as a cleaner. IME, HHAs will do light housekeeping which is things like meal prep, clearing after prep and eating, and laundry for the person they're caring for. The don't do floors, dust, or clean bathrooms as a rule. If you go through an agency, you may need to pay an upcharge if they're doing anything "for" you. We had this after mom's TKR for a time when aides were fixing her some lunch or tossing her things in the washer as well as dad's.

If you hire through word-of-mouth or care.com, you can advertise for exactly what you want.

HB