|
Home |
Senior Services |
Other Services |
Testimonials |
Articles |
Contact |
520.327.6351 Charter Member of the National Association of Private Duty
Homecare
|
Professional Senior Services The Best Choice For In-Home CareAugust 20-26, 2001 Health Care Inside -- A supplement to Inside Tucson
Photo Courtesy of SeniorSites.com, Dotha with cat Cocoa
If your parents or grandparents need help in the kitchen, with transportation and errands, with hygiene, or if they’re bed-bound, you may want to consider professional home care senior services to provide the help they need to age with dignity and respect.
Many studies have shown that most seniors prefer to remain at home with help and have their needs and services safely met there, rather than move to institutional living, which may be unnecessary as well as costing more than in-home care.
There are two broad choices for adult home care: hire someone yourself, or arrange for a professional, nursing-based home care services to send a caregiver. If you’ve been shopping around, you know that privately hired caregivers will charge around $8 to $12 per hour, and that professional care costs around $14 to $18 per hour.
Why consider the professional services?
First, and most important: a professional service provider will schedule a trained direct caregiver who has been carefully screened prior to employment.
Second, the paraprofessional direct caregiver will have backup support from a nurse available by phone 24 hours a day. Supervision and support for the employee gives you, your elderly family member or relative, and the employee more confidence that untoward events will be handled rapidly and correctly.
Third, the service provider is the employer and manages all of the payroll, employee tax deductions, contributions, worker’s compensation, benefit provision, and other employer-employee concerns – matters which you, if hiring privately, are required to provide. By arranging for care with a professional service, these unavoidable details are invisibly managed.
Fourth, if your doctor orders home care for your parent or grandparent, the cost is tax-deductible—but only if all of the required em-ployee/employer tax matters are properly handled.
Fifth, professional home care services will provide you with peace of mind, and the knowledge that your senior loved one is receiving the care you’ve chosen and expect.
This is what to expect from a professional home care senior service:
• Screening. This may include a skill test; a written test; verification of the applicant’s work history; a formal background check, including citizenship or work visa; confirmation of basic CPR certification; a TB test; and confirmation of the State Board of Nursing credentials.
• Training. This will include thorough ori-entation training at the start of employment, often formal classroom and practical training, and on-going, regular continuing education.
• Payroll management. This includes So-cial Security deductions, FICA, and other state and federal required paperwork and financial transactions, handled in a timely fashion. This time consuming chore is the agency’s problem, not yours.
• Insurance. Professional home care senior services carry liability insurance to protect you and your property, and worker’s compensation to protect the direct caregiver.
• Assurances that care will be provided. Professional home care services strive for “continuity of care,” which means that the same caregiver(s) will be caring for your parent, grandparent, or relative. But in the event that the regular caregiver cannot arrive, another qualified and trained caregiver will be sent.
• Nursing support. Nursing-based home care senior services have nurses on staff that will visit the elderly family member or relative before service is started to make sure they receive the correct level of care--both the skill level of the caregiver and the number of hours required per visit. The nurse will also assess the family member’s physical functioning, psychological state and re-evaluate regularly in supervisory visits to his or her home. These nurses are always on call if needed.
• Professional reports. Your physician, and in some cases your long-term care insurance provider, may require professional, written evaluations of your family member or relative’s condition. Your supervisory nurse can provide these.
• Employee relations. Often, a solid bond develops between a caregiver and a senior client. But if the relationship is not working out for any reason, a professional home care service will be glad to send another caregiver.
• Additional compensation for your caregiver. Most home care senior services offer benefits such as health insurance and paid vacation. These are not additional expenses for you. You only pay for the care your family member or relative receives.
• Your caregiver’s professional attitude. Many home care senior services offer caregivers the opportunity for promotion within the company, as well as possibilities for further training. Di-rect care has become an integral part of the continuum of health-care employment.
None of the above is easily available if someone merely answers your classified ad. And if you wish to take on all of the responsibilities listed above, could you afford the time and money to do so? The bottom line is, as always: you get what you pay for.