After so many years of working as a domestic agency, many of my clients would request a caregiver for their parents or themselves. When my mother-in-law recently had a stroke, it became a personal matter. Most elderly people that suffer a set-back are first sent to the hospital and must remain there for at least 3 consecutive days to qualify for transfer to a rehab center. It is never pleasant to be in a hospital, but a Rehab center (which in this case was more like a Nursing Home) is worse. Just walking through the halls, all you see is very old people practically waiting to pass on. Many seem incoherent as they stare into the oblivion. Between that visual and the smell, I could not imagine my mother-in-law or anyone that I cared about deeply remaining there another day. I insisted on bringing a qualified caregiver from Los Angeles back East and bringing her home immediately.
Choosing someone for the job meant finding a woman with the nurturing qualities along with necessary experience to handle this kind of job. It was also very important to find someone with the right personality and kindness to fill the job. Fortunately, among several candidate, I found one that had no problem re-locating. We flew off together and prepared for mom's arrival with the following list:
1) Organize the home for someone to live/in. In this case, a 1-bedroom apartment, we had to reconfigure the living space to accommodate a bed and get a television in for her use. This made me realize how important it is to have 2 bedrooms as you get older, even if you don't need them now, you will later.
2) Put the caregiver on the auto insurance policy as additionally-named insured. Drive with her in the car to be sure she is comfortable and can handle the car easily. Teach her the various routes needed to go to the store, doctor, beauty salon, etc.
3) Place the caregiver on payroll. Not only is this the legal thing to do, but with most long term insurance policies, they will require proof that you have a caregiver in order to distribute funds.
4) Prepare a list of duties for the job - since my mother-in-law is ambulatory, most of the work involves shopping, cooking, driving, activities and light cleaning. I created a list of what she needed to accomplish daily so that everything would run smoothly. I also made a list of weekly meals. Elderly people left on their own have a tendency to not eat regularly. One of the many benefits of having a caregiver is that someone is there to ensure that your loved one is eating properly.
5) Arrange for relief for the caregiver - this meant either finding someone that would work 1 day per week or asking the family members to all contribute their time by visiting one full Sunday per month. Fortunately, there is enough family to fill this task and all were agreeable to doing so.
After one week of helping the caregiver and my mother-in-law get acclimated, I flew home relieved and so did everyone knowing that mom was in good hands.
http://www.MartaPerrone.com
Choosing someone for the job meant finding a woman with the nurturing qualities along with necessary experience to handle this kind of job. It was also very important to find someone with the right personality and kindness to fill the job. Fortunately, among several candidate, I found one that had no problem re-locating. We flew off together and prepared for mom's arrival with the following list:
1) Organize the home for someone to live/in. In this case, a 1-bedroom apartment, we had to reconfigure the living space to accommodate a bed and get a television in for her use. This made me realize how important it is to have 2 bedrooms as you get older, even if you don't need them now, you will later.
2) Put the caregiver on the auto insurance policy as additionally-named insured. Drive with her in the car to be sure she is comfortable and can handle the car easily. Teach her the various routes needed to go to the store, doctor, beauty salon, etc.
3) Place the caregiver on payroll. Not only is this the legal thing to do, but with most long term insurance policies, they will require proof that you have a caregiver in order to distribute funds.
4) Prepare a list of duties for the job - since my mother-in-law is ambulatory, most of the work involves shopping, cooking, driving, activities and light cleaning. I created a list of what she needed to accomplish daily so that everything would run smoothly. I also made a list of weekly meals. Elderly people left on their own have a tendency to not eat regularly. One of the many benefits of having a caregiver is that someone is there to ensure that your loved one is eating properly.
5) Arrange for relief for the caregiver - this meant either finding someone that would work 1 day per week or asking the family members to all contribute their time by visiting one full Sunday per month. Fortunately, there is enough family to fill this task and all were agreeable to doing so.
After one week of helping the caregiver and my mother-in-law get acclimated, I flew home relieved and so did everyone knowing that mom was in good hands.
http://www.MartaPerrone.com
RSS Feed
