A Guide to Navigating Home Care Agencies
With the numerous home care agencies ready to provide service, most families are having a hard time selecting the best place for care for their loved ones. They do not know what to find and how to choose. Most of the times too, their loved ones have immediate needs for a particular pressing medical condition. Thus, they do not have enough time to browse through the entire list and just make immediate decisions. However, some families are prepared and have already planned on for their future care.
Choosing a care setting is a big family decision. There is a lot of consideration that has to be made. Is a home care agency the right choice? It is important that they know if the service provider has all the needed legal requirements. Can the family afford such type of care? Will they be able to trust a caregiver to take care of their seniors?
How to Choose an Agency?
The number of agencies on service can be quite overwhelming. For those who do not have an idea of what to consider in finding the right provider, here is a guide that can help in their navigation.
1. What does the senior need?
Each patient has a unique medical condition thus each has different care needs. Similarly, each provider will offer various needs. What families can do is to create a list of all the medical and non-medical requirements that the patient needs. Also, writing down their daily activities and routines can be useful. Discuss these to a preferred agency and know their plan of care.
2. What type of care is needed?
Related to the first one, determining the type of care that the senior will possibly need is also important. Does he need hands-on care or just companion care? By identifying this, the caregiver can suggest a group of activities for the senior.
3. Is it important that the caregiver can drive?
In some cases, families prefer that their senior’s caregiver has an ability to drive so they can take and assist the patient in their regular check-ups and social activities. The caregiver can drive the patient’s car however there are insurance issues that should be addressed both on the side of the client and the home care agencies. Additionally, if there will be no driving involved, the care provider can help the patient and take public transportation. This is a simpler and safer choice when it comes to senior transportation.
4. How long will the caregiver’s service be in need?
Families should be able to decide on the minimum or maximum hours of service for their senior’s care. This is because agencies are creating a schedule for all their care providers. Families can have the option to adjust these hours to better suit their loved one’s care needs.
5. What other important specifications do they have?
In some cases, families may require a caregiver who can speak a particular language. For example, the patient is Spanish, thus a Spanish-speaking provider will be more preferable. Be sure to find out if the agency has someone for this job. Aside from that, there are also instances wherein a patient’s need calls for a set of skilled care like taking blood pressure, tending wounds, feeding through tubes or testing blood sugar. Such needs should be discussed with home care agencies.
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