Sometimes, caring for an elderly adult tends to get tougher each day hence the need to hire for an in-home help. While the most preferred caregiver is still you or anyone within the senior’s close family circle, we all know how tough it could get juggling your life and caring for a frail, ailing senior especially if a progressive disease is present. Sending them to an assisted living facility can certainly help improve the situation for both the caregiver and the senior but the emotional effects of it are sometimes not worth the physical comfort it can give. Some even consider doing this as a last resort and not as a primary solution.
Since caregiving has become a prevalent problem to most households, support groups were formed to help and educate families and loved-ones of the best possible solution to your situation. One of the most encouraged solutions is hiring an in-house help, catering solely to the senior’s needs. This can be done even if the senior in question is not living with you as of the present time.
Some of the telltale signs that your senior might be needing an in-home help are:
• If the senior requires constant supervision and assistance which you cannot provide.
• If the senior can no longer fulfill his or her daily chores with ease.
• His or her daily routine is no longer done.
• Obviously, nutrition and personal hygiene have become things of no importance.
• The senior has become nonresponsive therefore rendering him or her unable to care for themselves.
Your first step in hiring an in-home help is assessing the needs. In order to release an effective advertisement, you should have a clear outline of what the senior needs and how the job should be done. For you to do this, you should have a clear conversation with the senior and together, try to figure out what needs to be fulfilled. Remember that this is doubly stressful for the senior since he will be taken cared of a strange person 24/7. Getting used to someone who was brought rather forcefully in your life is no fun, and this is something you should consider no matter how bad your senior’s situation might be. Ask the senior of his or her preferences to make it easier for them. In other words, try to get them involved when hiring a help.
As much as possible, try to get an in-house help that has training in health care such as nursing assistant or even a registered nurse if necessary. Give extra cookie points for those who can drive since most emergency situations call for drivers. More importantly, figure if this person can handle your senior well, both physically and emotionally. There are two ways to hire, one being through an agency and two by hiring the help personally. Both of which have their own pros and cons attached to them.
Equally important is a contract to be signed by you and the help. This should clearly put in details what’s expected of him or her and on what grounds the contract shall get terminated, if and when it deemed be. Also included in the contract is referring parties whom you can talk to for background checks.
Take notice of the interaction between the senior and the help. Your senior should be comfortable having this person around so it doesn’t necessarily mean that what works for you would work for your senior as well. After the interview, try to get your senior’s opinion of the person and have them rate according to preference. This way you are sure that they like who you hire.
