When you are looking for home care for yourself or a loved one, how do you choose a provider? Last week, I wrote about the qualities that a great caregiver should possess. But as a home care client, how do you find someone like that?

Most people use an agency like Assisting Hands. Agencies take care of all the administrative work involved with hiring, training, paying, and insuring staff. If you hire a caregiver privately, you are responsible for all of that!

At Assisting Hands, we have developed a checklist to help you find the best agency for you. Here are the most important things you need to ask when interviewing an agency to determine if they are right for you or your loved one:

1. Are you licensed by the state?
2. Do you assess client health and conduct a home safety check before service begins?
3. Do you involve family members in the care planning process?
4. Do you perform supervisory visits to ensure the care plan is being carried out properly?
5. Are your caregivers experienced, trained, and competency-tested?
6. Are all caregivers background-checked, bonded, and insured?
7. Do you manage pay of all caregivers, including taxes?
8. Do you assign a caregiver based on personalities and compatibility?
9. Does your agency have a system in place if there is a conflict of personalities?
10. Does your agency use GPS to verify caregiver arrival and departure times?
11. If my caregiver is sick or has an emergency, will you send another caregiver of equal skill?
12. Are you insured for accidents in the home?
13. Can you provide a caregiver trained in the condition or need I or my loved one has?
14. Can you accommodate any length of visit, as short as two hours per day?
15. What is the procedure for adding shifts/hours?
16. Is there someone on-call 24/7 – just in case?
17. What are your fees? Are there additional ways to offset out-of-pocket costs?
18. What notice is required if the schedule needs to be changed? What is the availability of your caregivers?

There are many things to think about, and this list can be overwhelming for some. However, doing your research on an agency that will be sending people into your home is crucial. Hiring a home care agency is a big decision, and at Assisting Hands we want to help you make the right choice.