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Consider Using a Professional Home Care Senior ServicesApril 2000 – Arizona Senior World
By Judith B. Clinco, R.N,
You’re getting on in years. You’ve decided it’s time to get some help in your home – someone to take care of the cooking, shopping, and laundry, help you with bathing and hygiene, provide transportation and handle other basics of daily life.
As you probably already know, you can choose between two basic approaches to finding adult home care: hire someone yourself, or arrange with a home care agency to supply a caregiver. And, if you’ve been shopping around, you also know you can hire someone yourself for substantially less that an agency would charge. So why even consider using an professional home care agency?
The short answer is peace of mind. The long answer is screening, training, back up support, nursing supervision, management, and peace of mind. Here’s a quick look at the two options.Using a professional home care agency
What you’ll pay:
• Usually between $14 and $18 per hour.What you’ll get:
• Screening. Depending on the adult home care agency, this may include a skill test, a written test, verification of the applicant’s work history, a formal background check, ensuring the applicant is CPR certified and has passed a tuberculosis test, and checking credentials with the state Board of Nursing.
• Training. This includes initial orientation training, formal classroom training (in many cases), and continuing education.
• Payroll management. Keeping track of deductions for Social Security and FICA can be a big headache, and filings must be done properly and on time. This time consuming chore is the adult home care agency’s problem, not yours.
• Insurance. Adult home care agencies carry liability insurance to protect you and your property, and workman’s compensation to protect the caregiver. The adult care agency will send another caregiver if for any reason your regular caregiver can’t come as scheduled.
• Nursing support. Most adult home care agencies have nurses on staff to visit in the client’s home before senior services are started and they make sure the client is getting just the right level of care, assess the client’s physical and psychological state on an ongoing basis, and supervise the caregiver. These nurses are always on call if needed.
• Employee relations. Often a solid bond develops between client and caregiver. But if it’s not working out for any reason, the agency will be glad to send another caregiver.
• A caregiver with benefits. Most adult home care agencies offer benefits like health insurance and paid vacations, so you don’t have to.If you hire someone yourself, what you’ll pay is usually between $8 and $12 per hour. What you’ll get is an unknown quantity. All you really know is that the person answered your ad.
The bottom line is that with most things, you get what you pay for. By going through an adult care agency, you’ll pay a set fee for the senior services of a professional caregiver who is screened, trained, and supported. Or, to save a few dollars, you can hire someone yourself – and take on all the obligations and responsibilities of being an employer.
And here’s one last thing to keep in mind. Often, applicants who can’t pass an agency’s screening process find work as a private-hire caregiver. Is that the person you want in your home? And will that person be reliable and trustworthy?Editor’s note: The Author, a longtime contributor to Arizona Senior World, is president and CEO of Catalina In-Home Services, Inc., a Tucson-based supportive care agency.