Screening companion caregivers for excursions out of facility

Merla

I want to get my mom a long term companion caregiver who will take her out of memory care a few times a week and help keep her activity, nature walks, pickle ball, maybe even bike riding and out to lunch. At this point my mom doesn’t need a lot of care or assistance but more companionship but I would need someone experienced in dementia care. I considered a caregiver agency but they don’t have caregivers who want jobs for a few hours a few days a week. This is kind of what I expected because a friend told me this is the typical response from most caregiver agencies.

So I’m looking on care.com. My ideal caregiver would be an active woman in her 50-60s who is local and knows the local scene, has experience in dementia care and likes going to the gym and playing pickle ball and taking walks. I want someone who is looking to pick up some extra cash and finds this job convenient and somewhat enjoyable and stays with my mom for months/years. Ideally she will feel like this person is a friend. I’m worried though about someone taking advantage of my mom ie stealing money or something like this. Or not being able to handle a difficult situation though my mom isn’t really difficult at this stage.

What questions should I ask? Also how do I prevent potential exploitation? What do I look for? I’m going to screen this person on the phone and have a family member accompany my mom and the caregiver on the first outing.

harshedbuzz

A couple of thoughts.

A couple thoughts-

Firstly, taking mom out could be an issue at this point in time. Has your brother done a trial run of this and found she returns to the facility without drama or tears? Does her facility have outings for residents that she's been included in to get a sense of how she handles the return to the facility?

Biking? Given how the executive function skills and spatial skills tend to tank fairly early in dementia, I would consider biking to be akin to driving minus the protection offered by the steel safety cage, seatbealts and airbags.

You are looking for a unicorn caregiver-companion. Since you aren't local to the pool from which you are drawing, is there a family member/friend-of-the-family who might know of someone looking to earn a little extra money who might fit the bill? Sometimes these kinds of people are found through word-of-mouth at the hair salon, church or work. I got a great caregiver lead from the postmaster at the tiny rural PO I use for shipping.

It's a great idea to facilitate the first meeting with a relative in attendance. You might go further and introduce the companion as a friend of said relative.

Good luck.
HB

Merla

So I am going have my aunt interview them in person and I do a phone screen and have my aunt introduce them as a friend of hers.

My mom is living near a cool little town center area where there is a community center with pickle ball and beautiful walking trails. Biking does make me nervous but she biked a lot 6 months ago. She still can play pickle ball for sure as she played with her siblings just a week ago and is good.

I had my nanny in mind when I was thinking of a caregiver for my mom so was hoping I could find someone like her for my mom. I'm also paying pretty good money for a relatively easy job so I'm hoping someone wants the job.

I am worried about someone taking advantage of my mom. How should I arrange payment if they do activities?

So far I have one candidate that may fit my specifications.