Finding a Personal Care Attendant
Personal Care > Finding a Personal Care Attendant
In this high-tech postmodern culture of ours, we have the best opportunities, the finest options, and the greatest access to the stellar treatment from a personal care attendant. At the same time, we need to find a personal care attendant who is qualified, capable, and amenable to you and your needs.
With the help of home and personal care attendant service owners like Clare Absher, RN, BSN, a compiled list of suggestions are listed here to help you find such a personal care attendant.
First, consider your primary needs and concerns. Do you want a personal care attendant who is independently offering services, one whom you will employ yourself, or would you prefer a licensed service to provide you with an attendant, so you need not do such an in-depth training? Either way, the personal care attendant should match your financial capabilities, the particular level of needs you (or your loved one) have (or has), and your preferences.
You will likely need, for instance, a personal care attendant who speaks, reads, and writes the same language. You might need—as many do—someone with previous experience in home care for seniors and/or disabled people. You will, then, also consider whether you want to choose an attendant who can assist with grooming, bathing, movement, meal preparation, light housecleaning, transportation to shopping and medical and other appointments, and/or someone who will be a companion, a social escort, and/or a nurse. Such considerations will define the difference among the personal care attendant who comes in a few hours a day to help with immediate and primary needs, a personal care attendant who administers shots and sees to all of your daily, day-long activity needs, one who is more of a social support, or one who is primarily household worker.
But as Nurse Absher recommends, don’t worry about the different types of personal
care attendants. Instead, you could make a list of daily requirements
you have or your elder has, tasks the person will need to do, and then
you can find the attendant who matches.
(According to Absher, this
list will become a job description/contract you and the attendant care
giver will stick to once you choose and hire your caregiver.)
So how do you find the personal care attendant to match the list? A personally recommended care giver is most reliable. I have a number of friends who are seniors who employ personal care attendants. They found them through friends they dine with as regulars at the local coffee shop. In fact, the coffee shop owners best friend, who is a regular also, is a personal care attendant. See how nicely that works out.
But if you can’t find a personal care attendant through friends like this—if you don’t or are unable to go out every day, ask someone who does. Ask fellow church members, friends, and family members if they know someone, or if they personally know a medical professional who does. Because my best friend is a clinical nurse specialist in the field of senior care, I will be able to get a top recommended attendant, but anyone who has connections to or lives in a personal care assisted living facility could give you some ideas and names.
Call your local community centers, community colleges, and senior centers. Ask the on-site nurses or teachers with nursing credentials for referrals. Contact Area on Aging agencies, trusted local employment boards, and even local online job boards. When I am perusing craigslist.com, for instance (which is a community poster service for the 50 states and many cities in other countries), I often see personalized postings calling for a care giver, as well as postings by those seeking work. These people of course would require references whom you would contact for referrals. And be sure to follow up on every reference before having a stranger set foot in the house.
Ms. Absher also recommends the possibility of a joint caregiving situation, where a friend shares a personal care attendant with another friend—especially if the two seniors in need of care only each need an attendant for a couple of hours a day. And if you get stuck, you can even consult agencies specifically catering to providing personal caregivers. Check the CarePathways.com classifieds board, for instance. Though I have no personal stake in Nurse Absher’s services—I have never met or spoken with her—I find her advice valuable and her services even more so. Of course, you will check out her references. Just kidding.