Finding A Trustworthy In-Home Caregiver May Not Be As Easy As It Sounds

As American seniors age and find that they need more and more help with daily tasks, many of our parents and grandparents are choosing NOT to go into nursing or retirement homes, opting instead to age at home with the help of in-home care. Of course, deciding that you want to age at home is one thing, but finding the right in-home aide—and figuring out how to pay for that aide—is easier said than done.

Hiring a home health-aide means bringing a stranger into your home during a vulnerable time; and according to this recent article published on the Northwestern University website, not all aides or agencies are created equal. “A troubling new national study finds many agencies recruit random strangers off Craigslist and place them in the homes of vulnerable elderly people with dementia, don’t do national criminal background checks or drug testing, lie about testing the qualifications of caregivers and don’t require any experience or provide real training.”

While it’s true that finding a trustworthy and experienced aide may be difficult, the good news is that there are plenty of excellent caregivers out there, and simply knowing the right questions to ask can make your search a whole lot easier. The article mentioned above lists 10 questions to ask an agency before hiring a caregiver, including questions such as:

How do you recruit caregivers, and what are your hiring requirements?

What types of screenings are performed on caregivers before you hire them? Criminal background check—federal or state? Drug screening? Other?

Are the caregivers insured and bonded through your agency?

If there is dissatisfaction with a particular caregiver, will a substitute be provided?

Does the agency provide a supervisor to evaluate the quality of home care on a regular basis? How frequently?

Hiring a caregiver or aide to come into your home can be fraught with stress and second-guessing, but knowing that you don’t have to go through it alone—that there are trustworthy friends, agencies and advisors who can help you—can not only make the process a whole lot easier, but can also make you and your entire family feel much more comfortable with the person you eventually choose to hire.