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What to Expect When You Call a Home Care Agency
When you call a home health agency, they’ll ask several questions regarding the type of care you’re looking for in your loved one’s home. Once you and they determine you’re a good match, they will set up an appointment to come over to your elder’s home, and do an in-home assessment.
The Intake Process
A registered nurse (RN) will more than likely be the person to come to your loved one’s home for the intake process, if your loved one is likely to need more assistance than a non-medical home care agency will provide. During the intake process the RN may ask questions you’ve already answered over the phone. Be patient. This is mostly just a verification process, a way of double checking facts.
Next, the RN will begin asking questions about the goals you’d like to meet in your loved one’s home care needs. You can tell them, for example, that you’d like your loved one to get out of the house at least twice a week. Perhaps, you’d also like someone there during meal times to help your loved one prepare meals, as well as offer companionship while they ate.
It would be a great idea to have a list of your goals prior to this meeting. Once the RN has written down the goals of care you’d like to see, you’ll discuss what interventions will accomplish those goals. Be sure to set a date, about a month out, with the RN to evaluate this plan of care. Some goals and interventions may need to be tweaked. The plan of care isn’t written in stone, and will change as the needs of your loved one changes. Be sure to ask for a copy of the plan of care.
When Should You Begin Looking for a Home Care Agency?
It’s best not to wait until the last minute to search for a home care agency. There are many choices, and it’s important to screen each one appropriately, to make sure that you and they are a good match. Having a caregiver already in place, before something drastic happens, is the ideal.
It allows your loved one time to adjust to the idea of having a caregiver present in their home. The idea of a home care companion can be better accepted, if it’s slowly introduced. For example, perhaps the process can begin by having a professional companion come and help with the housecleaning.
Then, eventually, they can help with the grocery shopping. Services can be added as slowly and subtly as needed, if you’re able to plan ahead and get a home care agency on board early.
What are some things a home care companion can help you and your loved one with right now?