Is There An Organization That Rates Home Care Agencies

The VA recommended Assisting Hands for my husband and we had a very positive experience with the office in Tampa Florida. My husband called the caregiver “my lady” and after I had to place him in memory care she called me later and asked how I was doing. The manager called me to make sure I was happy with their service.

I firmly believe that you have to do the leg work yourself if you want to avail yourself to all options. Using a service will only share facilities they are contracted with.

First learn…read about Abe's Garden and then read I'm Still Here by John Zeisel

The next step you can do from your home. Call a facility and ask what their training program is. If they have "their own" cross them off the list.

Ask what they think of Naomi Feil, Teepa Snow. If they are unfamiliar scratch them off.

Ask about staff turnover and ratio.

Ask to have a contract mailed to you.

Check with your state dept for red flags.

Next would be a planned visit. Follow this up with an unplanned visit and do talk with other caregivers in the halls or parking lot. Talk to staff members too.

The above will narrow things down.

Always remember that you are looking for care…looks can be deceiving!

Absolutely true that the caregiver matters more than anything!

I hired home care for my PWD in a rural area for a little over a year. I hired privately for a while and then worked with an agency. I got the private referral through my PWD’s doctor’s office; it worked OK for a while but then not so much. Plus, it was a lot of work to manage the taxes myself.

I found the agency through the local Area Agency on Aging. They gave me a list of about five agencies supposedly serving the area. I called all the places and found that only one agency served private-pay clients (as opposed to only Medicaid clients) in my PWD’s locale. So I went with that one—for about a year. It was fine. They handled employee taxes, benefits, etc., and they provided replacements if someone was ill or needed time off.

With the agency we had three regular caregivers in eleven months: the first two were wonderful. Each quit after developing her own health problems. The third was friendly but noticeably less skilled. All three told me we needed a facility placement for my PWD and spouse…which I knew already. It finally became possible.

Thank you for that link

Mecicare ,, dept of health ratings are never a reliable source to trust with our loved ones. They inspect records to make sure little blocks are filled in. Only trust the opinion of someone who has walked in your shoes. Never leave your husband in a "for profit" facility. They make their money by buying poor quality food, hiring uneducated not certified staff . The profit is made on the backs of ill, frail, elderly patients.

Inspections and ratings are a farce.

The very best thing I got out of a local support group was this type of information. After a few meetings I felt much more empowered to know what was a good source of reliable care based on the experiences of other local people.