Visiting your parents at the holiday time is something you are very much looking forward to, but somehow dreading at the same time. The days spent together will be joyful, and full of holiday spirit. However, you know that the moment has come to discuss whether your elderly parents will be able to stay in their home, or whether they will need to move to a facility where they can get more care and support. A home health aide could be the solution that will allow your parents to stay in the home they enjoy, while still affording them the help they need. Choosing a home health aid can be challenging though, luckily there are specialized senior care agencies like Assisting Hands that can provide the senior care support you need for your loved ones.

Choosing the Right Type of Home Care

There are many types of home care: personal care services that include baths, toileting and ambulation; homemaking services that include cleaning, shopping, cooking and laundry; companionship care that provides friendly visits and hospital sitting; and skilled nursing and therapy that includes wound care, injections, and blood testing.

Assuming your parent does not need special medical care, a home health aide can provide the support your elderly parents need to stay in their home safely and independently.

Looking for an Agency To Get the Best Care

A home health aide provides home care services. In Florida, home health aides can work for themselves, and do not need any certification. Most home health aides, though, work for agencies like Assisting Hands Home Care Palm Beach which requires some certifications. Unless you have personal connections with an independent aide, your best options will probably include a home health aide who works for an agency.

To get the best care, first find an agency that is well known, and has been in business for at least five years. Interview the agency, asking questions to find out if they are Medicare certified, how they handle after hours situations, how their staff are trained, and much more, depending on the needs of your parents. Read “Three Of The Advantages Of Working With Assisting Hands Home Care.”

Looking for a Certified Home Health Aide

Once you have selected an agency, you must find the perfect caregiver. A good agency will allow you to take part in the selection process. Some agencies will provide a personality compatibility test to both the caregiver and your elderly parent. These types of screening measures will help to ascertain that the caregiver will work well with each other. In addition, personal interviews, involving your parent and the caregiver should be arranged. You and your parents should prepare questions and the caregiver will probably have questions for them too!

Final Thoughts

Be sure to work out the details of work duties for the home health aide. There should be a written plan of the duties that the aide will be performing. If your parents have any special needs, such as memory loss or special diets, you need to be sure that the home health aide has had training in those areas and or can accommodate the needs. Additionally, one should find out if the aide and/or the agency provides liability insurance and if the aide is bonded for potential damages. Again, the benefit in working with agencies such as Assisting Hands is that its caregivers are insured and bonded.

In all, there are a lot of points to consider when you are hiring a home health aide for elderly parents. While all needs are critically important to your parents care and well-being, you need to find the best match possible. It can be dangerous to hire the wrong caregiver and it is best to do some hard work upfront to ascertain the right choice is made.

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Please share it, and feel free to leave comments or contact me directly at [email protected] with specific or more personal questions, or call (561) 829­-3080.