There are things that you need to know before you hire a caregiver; be it privately or going through an in home health care agency. Your results will be better when you plan ahead and have more information. When you are hiring a stranger you always need to be on the cautious side. Here are some questions to ask when you are trying to decide which caregiver to go with and whether or not you should use a home health care agency.
Hiring a Private Caregiver
When you are planning on hiring a caregiver without going through an agency, consider these questions:
· Will any caregiver that you hire need to know how to operate any sort of equipment?
· Will they need to lift the patient at all?
· What sort of training should the ideal caregiver have?
· Should the caregiver need any special skills or need to know a different language?
· Will the caregiver need to have experience in working with people who have memory impairments? What about other types of disabilities?
· What kind of experience does the caregiver need to have?
· If you do decide not to go with a home health care agency, how will you go about screening the candidates?
Hiring a Home Health Care Agency
If you are considering going with a home health care agency, there are still questions that you will need answers to. These questions might include:
· Does the agency offer any sort of continuing education and /or training for their employees?
· How does the home health care agency screen potential caregivers and is there a complete background check that includes things like references, status of work permits, driving records and criminal records?
· What is the interview to hire ratio for the agency?
· What sort of training do the agency caregivers receive?
· Will the caregivers be trained on how to operate different types of medical equipment?
There will often be a need for the caregiver to perform other services while in the home of the patient. These can include providing companionship for the patient as well as other things such as:
· Hospice care
· Skilled nursing care
· Respite care for family caregivers
· Assistance with daily living activities
· Reminders for medications
· Preparation of meals
· Light housekeeping
· Providing transportation to and from the doctor
· Running errands
Home health care agencies will typically offer other services such as IV therapy, wound care and even chemotherapy for patients who are receiving home health care services. While these services may be offered, they will also generally cost extra. That being said, it is still more cost effective to do things this way as opposed to getting these services taken care of on an inpatient basis.
When you are considering hiring a home health care agency, you can typically get an initial assessment plan for free. In order to get this, a staff member or social worker from the agency in question will come to your home or the home of the patient and help develop a care plan that will include all of the services that the patient will need in order to maintain his social, mental and physical well-being. find a caregiver near me
