Advantages of Hiring a Senior Home Care Agency

When the need for additional care presents itself for a senior, many decisions must be made.

Does the senior wish to remain in the home they currently live in?

Is that home able to accommodate their current medical conditions?

What are the financial capabilities to pay for care services?

What are the long-term plans for the senior’s care needs based on their physical and mental capabilities and socialization needs?

Caregiverlist provides information on ways to pay for care, quality standards and Checklists for planning your care options.

Once the decision to stay home has been made, for the short-term or long-term, the next task is to find an appropriate care provider.

Caregiverlist provides information on care services provided by quality licensed senior home care agencies. As there are no national licensure standards for senior home care, Caregiverlist has created a set of standards participating senior home care agencies must meet, along with a client survey to maintain high-quality providers.

Caregiverlist does not connect seniors with independent contractor caregivers (direct-hire). There are plenty of other websites that try to do this. We choose to only provide information on professional senior home care services and would like to tell you why.

Caregiverlist’s owners and advisors have years of experience in senior care. While in some rare occasions, an independent contractor caregiver can adequately provide for care needs, in far too many instances a direct-hire caregiver does not present quality care and a safe environment for the senior or the caregiver. Seniors have spent a lifetime to acquire assets and a certain lifestyle and all this can be risked if proper care is not in place. A senior home care agency provides the necessary protections and quality of care for each individual situation. Senior home care agencies hire trustworthy individuals with personal and professional experience in caregiving and provide training and active management.

What does this mean for you as a client?

Employment Law: Senior Home Care Agencies are professionally licensed businesses and will abide by the business license requirements in their state and follow all the U.S. employment law guidelines.

1. I-9 Form: the caregiver will be required to present the necessary identification documents to satisfy the I-9 form requirements and be legally hired in the U.S.
2. Taxes: all payroll taxes will be deducted from the caregivers pay (and the agency will make the matching employer contribution).
3. Insurance: worker’s compensation insurance, fidelity bond insurance and professional liability insurance will be provided.
4. Language Capabilities: the caregiver will be required to communicate well in English and if requested, another foreign language to accommodate the senior client’s needs.
5. Timesheets: the caregiver will have a system to follow to insure they start the assignment on time and leave on time (telephone systems called telephony, logging in and out of a computer payroll system with a telephone call are common).
6. Training: customized training for age-related diseases are provided and Certified Nursing Aide and Home Health Aide skills are verified.
7. Care Plans: a Plan of Care is created to outline the daily routine and tasks for the caregiver to complete.
8. Active Management: the caregiver will enjoy a team environment with ongoing training, incentives, social activities, performance reviews and community programs to assist them to provide quality care.
9. Initial Assessment: a Case Manager or Supervisor will conduct an initial client assessment to make sure all the necessary care services and safety items are in place for the senior and the caregiver.

Seniors deserve quality care, which can best be provided by a professional senior home care agency offering both the senior and the caregiver support and guidance.

I am completely convinced of this after owning and operating a senior home care agency which successfully serviced more than 400 clients over 6 years (both hourly and live-in care), becoming the leading senior home care agency in its area which led to an acquisition by a national company.

Here are some of the situations I walked into when beginning care services for new clients (names have been changed for privacy) who had previously had hire-direct care services.

Read About Real Hire-Direct Caregiver Fraud and Abuse Cases to Understand Why Caregiverlist Only Advocates Hiring a Quality Senior Home Care Agency for Senior Home Care.

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