Just in the same way a matchmaker derives joy from introducing two romantic partners, at Assisting Hands Home Care we work hard each and every day to identify that same kind of compatibility factor between your family and our caregivers. Finding the right match in home care is essential to the success of both the caregiver and the family. It’s truly fun and we all celebrate when we are fortunate enough to get just the right fit at just the right time!
Finding the Right Caregiver
This individual will be spending their days in the most intimate setting: your home. It’s understandable that we want to find someone who not only is capable, skilled, compassionate, and dependable; but also compatible with your family.
Much like the chemistry between a friend or romantic partner, we believe there is someone for everyone out there. Once we find that magical match, the caregiver feels like she’s helping a dear neighbor or friend and not like she’s going to work. This is why we find so many caregivers love what they do.
So, how DO we go about finding the right match? Well, we can’t give away everything in our secret sauce, but here are a few things that help along our process:
- Knowing Your Staff & Families: A matchmaker has a mental rolodex of all her clients likes, dislikes, and personality quirks. She can turn that light bulb on with just the right match when it comes along! Knowing each and every member of our staff and our clients is a big part of our job. As we ask questions we try to read between the lines. It’s not always WHAT someone answers, but HOW they answer and how they communicate with us on a regular basis that lets us learn about their personality and preferences.
- What do they like to do in their free time?
- What is their communication style?
- How far do they live from their potential client?
- Is their sense of humor similar to one of our clients?
- Do they prefer quiet or conversation?
- Are they better suited for a job that’s very active or one that’s slower paced?
- What kind of life experience do they have?
- How do their interact with older adults? Do they view the relationship more as a grandparent or is the caregiver closer in age and can relate more on a peer level?
Giving & Receiving Honest Feedback: This is extremely important. If something wasn’t right, what was it? It’s helpful for families to be as open and honest at the beginning of our home care relationship. This helps us match better down the road. After a year or so with us and great communication from you, everyone in the office easily says, “oh, she’ll be perfect for your family!”- Embracing Change & Remaining Optimistic: I always say that no one ever really plans not to feel well or need the help of a caregiver. We try to be prepared for these kinds of rapid changes and stay hopeful that all will work out for the best. Sometimes our clients move on to Assisted Living, add, or reduce hours for various reasons. This can change the caregiver’s work situation in an instant. Our job is to look at the big picture and believe that the perfect match may be just around the corner for that caregiver.
- Constantly Mining for Gems: Part of the process to finding the right match is to never stop looking for the best caregivers in the industry. This is all part of our process. Recruiting at Assisting Hands is done on a continual basis. Every time we bring a new face in the door, we have YOUR family in mind. Who might match well with that person’s skills, abilities and personality? We often interview someone new and everyone in the office says, “she’s great! She would be PERFECT for the ____ family!” We never know unless we keep trying and we strive to be ready for the unexpected.
Timing is everything: There are times when a caregiver becomes available right at the moment your family needs home care assistance AND she’s the perfect match. We all are incredibly thankful when this happens. Other times, it’s takes a little longer to rearrange schedules and wait for the right person. We ask for your patience in this process and we do everything in our power to make the timing work in our favor!- Finding art in the matchmaking process: I like to think of matching caregivers with clients as an artistic process. It may look simple from the outside, but we know a lot of details go into making sure we have great team members ready to assist when your family needs help. This “dance” comes from great preparation through recruiting, looking at the big picture all our team members and families, and striving to create harmony among all caregivers, families, and administration.
Contact Us
Do you or a family member need home care assistance from one of our all-star team members? Give us a call at (847) 499-1307 for more information.
