How to Find a Compatible Personal Care Assistant for Your Senior Loved One
Finding the right personal care assistant is essential when hiring professional home care services. We’ve helped families in Scotts Valley, Marina, Santa Cruz and surrounding areas in California find the perfect caregiver by focusing on these qualities
Finding the right care provider for your loved one may not be as simple as you imagined. There are plenty of factors to consider if you seek to build a long-lasting relationship with a provider capable of helping your loved one boost their quality of life in many ways.
At Visiting Angels Central Coast, our Select Your Caregiver program makes it easy for senior clients and their families to find a compatible in-home caregiver. We have more than two decades of experience in matching care recipients with qualified, skilled, compassionate caregivers, so you might say we know what it takes to make a perfect fit.
How Can I Pick the Right Personal Care Assistant?
If you are currently looking for quality home care options for Mom or Dad in the Central Coast area, this article can help you out. Focus on these three qualities to narrow down your search for potential caregivers.
1. Check for Caregiving Skills & Experience
Senior home care is an industry with a plethora of services that can range from light housekeeping assistance to specialized care for those with various types of disabilities - and anything in between.
For this reason, prior to meeting with local home care agencies, it might be a good idea to make a list of tasks and areas of care your loved one will require help from their future personal care assistant. This way, you will know from the start the exact qualifications, skills, and experience you are looking for in a caregiver.
Make sure to review your list during initial in-person meetings with agencies and discuss matters such as training and licensing in detail.
2. Choose a Home Care Provider with Personality
When choosing a personal care assistant, a caregiver's personality can be even more important than their skills or qualifications. As your loved one will spend a couple of hours each week with their caregiver, making an ideal fit is what can make all the difference between substandard and stellar care.
When you finally start meeting with potential caregivers, both you and your loved one should make an effort to learn more about each caregiver as a person before making a decision.
3. Discuss Caregiver Availability & Scheduling
Last but not least, you need to consider the schedule of visits and availability of caregivers. You want a provider that will be available whenever you need them and who will happily work in accordance with your schedule and your loved one’s routine.
That, of course, will greatly depend on the type of care you are looking for. Some older adults only require care for a few hours per week. Others might need a personal care assistant on a full-time or 24/7 basis. The more intensive your loved one's needs, the harder it will be to find a caregiver with suitable availability.
At the same time, most seniors like to maintain their daily routines as is, so it is important to find a provider willing to accommodate those needs and adjust to Mom or Dad's preferences when it comes to the visiting schedule.
Get in touch with our Scotts Valley, CA office to learn more about our Select Your Caregiver program and make sure to schedule your free in-home consultation today. Visiting Angels Central Coast is here to help!