PROFESSIONAL IN-HOME CARE
In-home care agencies Many in-home care agencies:
• Will come up with an individualized plan of care and try to match a caregiver accordingly.
• Have a registered nurse on staff to supervise care services.
• Provide standardized training in dementia, personal care and first aid( and sometimes more) to their caregivers.
• Insure against in-home accidents, car accidents and injury of the clients and caregivers.
• Perform background checks, reference checks, Tuberculosis( TB) tests and drug tests.
• Will try to fill in with another caregiver if yours has to cancel( for example, if they are sick).
• Comply with HIPAA rules around privacy and confidentiality.
• Are regulated by local governing bodies.
• Are available via phone 24 / 7.
• Will try to replace a caregiver if you do not have good chemistry with that individual.
Some patients and families have shared that downsides of in-home care agencies can include:
• Tend to be more expensive than paying someone privately.
• May have minimum shifts by hours per day and / or days per week.
• May not always have the caregivers available to meet your requested shifts.
• May charge if you cancel a shift without enough notice or you have the caregiver leave earlier than their shift was scheduled to end.
• A non-medical in-home care company may not be able to work with someone with more complex medical interventions, such as a feeding tube, tracheostomy or ventilator, or they may be significantly more expensive.
Private duty / independent caregivers:
These caregivers are self-employed and do not work for an in-home care agency. Independent caregivers may have worked for an in-home care agency or long-term care facility, are retired, are in school( maybe even to go into health or nursing care) or perhaps were a family care partner themselves. They generally tend to be less expensive than agencies, and sometimes their fees may be flexible / negotiable.
Some patients and families have shared that downsides of independent caregivers can include:
• There is often no one to replace them if they have to call out.
• There may be no formal background / reference checks, or TB or drug testing. Or these are the responsibility of the family to pursue.
• They may have not had any formal care or first aid training.
• They may not be insured if they or the care recipient were to be injured during services.
• Interviewing, coordination, supervision, payroll and taxes are the responsibility of the family.