Selecting Non-Medical Care

When choosing a non-medical service agency, or home care agency, remember to take into consideration senior care that is needed and what kind of caregiver would work well with your loved one. Your father, who used to cook for himself since the death of your mother, is now so feeble that going to the kitchen has become impossible. Your mother, who used to sweep the floor and arrange the chairs in the living room, is now so forgetful that she neglects to do household work for days. Your spouse used to go shopping at the grocery store at the end of your street, but for some time now she forgets the way back and sometimes gets lost. Clearly, your loved ones need some non-medical care at home to enable them to get over the challenges which they may face in their daily lives. To provide an assisted care living facility, you have a number of issues to think about in order to choose the non-medical care agency to cater for your elderly parents suffering from Alzheimer’s, senility or dementia.

Selecting non-medical care for elderly parents is a delicate activity, and things could go wrong. Issues which were not taken into consideration at the formative stage could assume a different dimension and constitute a problem. To prevent mistakes from happening in your motivation to provide non-medical care for your loved ones, you must ask yourself searching questions. Which kind of non-medical care is suitable for your parents? Is there an appropriate provider for the kind of elder care your parents desire? Where can such providers be located? Is the agency approved? Does it have a printed brochure describing the services it provides? Is the quality of care certified by any national or accrediting agency?

Why should you inquire about the cost of the home health services provided by the non-medical care agencies? Which agencies have competitive costs? Are there ways to beat this down even further so they can become more affordable? How do you intend to source the money to pay for the services? What are the methods which governs payment?

What about the staff which the non-medical care agency will use as caregivers? Are they permanent or temporary staff of the agency? Will they be available seven days a week or on specific days? Is there a supervisor to evaluate them? Will the supervisor provide on-call assistance in case of trouble with care givers? How does the agency hire its staff? Does the agency screen the care givers before they are given employment? Are they given training? Are there provisions for patients’ confidentiality? How does the agency go about making sure the caregiverst respect patients’ confidentiality?

You may also need a back-up plan. It is quite possible that the non-medical care agency for one reason or the other may not be able to have care givers available to your loved ones. Care givers need to go on vacation too. In the event of the unavailability of agency staff, you should think of alternative home care providers that will provide for on-call situations. There are other factors involved with selecting non-medical care for your parents suffering from Alzheimer’s, senility and dementia, but the above suggestions should get you started in the business.

Senior Service Match.com can help in finding care for your loved ones. It is an on-line tool that is designed to connect seniors to services that are needed.