Try: Finding a quality home health care provider is an important but often difficult process many family caregivers don’t know where to begin or what all is involved in the process this factsheet provides some basic information on fining and choosing a home health care provier where to start get recommendations from trusted professionals and community members your care recipient’s doctor financial advisor attorney other medical providers friends or family members may have familiarity and experience with local companies that do a good job a list of providers is also available from your local area agency on aging or hospital social work department issues involved in hiring caregivers consider issues such as taxes insurance liability and worker’s compensation backup coverage background checks oversight and training if hiring through a nurse registry or employment agency the care recipient’s family may end up being the official employer responsible for pay taxes and other obligations however fully licensed private duty home health agencies offer more comprehensive services and protections as employers of the caregivers to learn more about state agency requirements and protections contact your state licensing agency for healthcare organizations or visit the national private duty association at www privatedutyhomecare org communication issues it is also important to know how you will be communicating with the caregiver and how current their monitoring and communications technology is other communication monitoring issues include how easy is it to monitor the care the care recipient is receiving does the caregiver or his her agency use technology like telephone clock in systems and scheduling software for quality assurance how quickly are they aware if a caregiver has not shown up to provide care what methods do they use to communicate with you do they offer you conveniences such as online monitoring and paying bills online or via credit card do they keep up to date with aging in place technology and can they provide you recommendations that can improve care interviewing caregivers get to know who you’re hiring when talking with an agency get a feel for their process here are some questions you should ask will they allow you and the care recipient to interview potential caregivers how do they handle replacing a caregiver that is not a good fit what steps do they take to ensure accountability how do they supervise train and support staff do they strive for continuity or will the care recipient have a different caregiver each time how many caregivers will cover the shifts the care recipient needs it is also important to discuss the care recipient’s specific health issues and or conditions with the agency or caregiver find out the agency’s experience with similar situations and any special training and guidance they provide for example do they have training on working with clients with alzheimer’s disease other issues to consider look for providers that have a history in the community and the industry ask if they are involved with local and national associations such as the alzheimer’s association the area agency on aging and the national private duty association their involvement demonstrates passion and dedication for their field management staff that has a history in the community and the profession demonstrates a commitment stability and a positive reputation that they would want to protect information references "five tips for finding a quality home care provider" by ryan malone available at
Materials: n/a
Categories: Sage, Topic, Caregiver Needs&Support, Medical Physical
Information: n/a
References: n/a
Keywords: Caregiver caregiving elderly care healthcare home care
*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed