5 Steps for Finding Home Care Services

Looking for home care services for yourself or a loved one can be overwhelming. Where do you start?

In this article, I am going to share five simple steps for finding the home care services that are right for you.

Step 1: Clarify the Type of Home Care

First, clarify what type of senior care you need based on the reason you are seeking home care services.

Are you looking for companion care – someone to provide company and social engagement? Are personal care services needed, such as bathing, dressing, toileting, or feeding? Will transportation be needed to get groceries or other supplies, to go to doctor appointments, or to go to a local park?

Does your loved one need dementia care, which could include medication reminders, safety supervision, and a caregiver who understands Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia?

Most people looking for home care will need a combination of these. Think about which home care services are helpful for you and your family.

Step 2: Consider the Ideal Care Schedule

Once you have clarified the type of care that is needed, you can move on to the ideal care schedule. When will you or your loved one need care? Consider the time of day that care is needed, how many hours a day, and which days of the week. Care can be scheduled all the way from occasional care to 24-hour care.

Step 3: Consider How You Will Pay for Care

We are often asked if Medicare covers home care services. Unfortunately, original Medicare does not cover our services, and Medicare Advantage covers a limited number of hours, typically following an event like a hospitalization.

So, how do families pay for in-home caregivers?

Long Term Care Insurance (LTC) often covers home care for those who qualify. Qualifying typically requires either a dementia diagnosis or an inability to perform two or more activities of daily living, also known as ADLs. These ADLs include bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, eating, and continence. There is also often an “elimination period,” meaning a number of days that need to pass between when the LTC insurance holder both qualifies for and begins care and when the policy will begin to pay for care.

VA benefits can also help pay for senior home care for veterans who qualify. Two specific benefits we work with are Community Care and Aid and Attendance.

Community Care pays a VA-approved provider like Griswold for the number of care hours the veteran qualifies for, so there is no cost to the veteran. This benefit does not have any financial qualifications. It is limited to veterans who are enrolled in or eligible for VA healthcare.

Aid and Attendance is a pension that a veteran or surviving spouse may qualify for when receiving home care services. This pension does have financial qualifications.

Private pay is the other way that many of our families pay for care.

Step 4: Contact an Agency About Home Care

You do not have to complete the first three steps before contacting a home care agency. If your home care need is urgent, we welcome your call and will help you walk through those decisions. However, if your home care need is not urgent, it is helpful to have thought through why care is needed, when care is needed, and the resources available to pay for care. This gives you a great starting point when contacting a home care agency.

When you are considering who to contact, we recommend asking professionals you trust and looking at online reviews. When you contact an agency, you should expect them to spend time learning about your home care needs and providing answers to your questions.

Step 5: In-Home Assessment

The final step will be to set up an initial home assessment. We offer a complimentary in-home assessment with one of our Registered Nurses. This assessment allows us to work with you to create an individualized plan of care. We will also make scheduling recommendations to optimize the use of funds for your future. At the end of our meeting, you will have peace of mind knowing a plan is available for you and your family.