What’s the best way to hire a caregiver for in-home help?

Dear Searching Sarah: Finding a good in-home caregiver for an elderly parent is not always easy. How can you find one that’s reliable and trustworthy, as well as someone your parent likes and is comfortable with? Here are some tips that can help.

Determining needs

Before you start looking for an in-home caregiver, your first step is to determine the level of care your dad needs.

For example, if he only needs help with daily living tasks such as shopping, cooking, doing laundry, bathing or dressing, a personal care aide will do. But if he needs health care services, there are home health aides who may help with daily living tasks, plus they have training in administering medications, changing wound dressings and other medically related duties. Home health aides often work under a nurse’s supervision.

Once you settle on a level of care, then decide how many hours of assistance he’ll need. For example, does your dad need someone to come in just a few mornings a week to cook, clean, run errands or perhaps help him with a bath? Or does he need more continuous care that requires daily visits?

After you determine his needs, there are two ways to go about hiring someone: either through an agency or hiring directly on your own.

Using an agency

Hiring a personal care or home health aide through an agency is the safest and easiest option, but it’s more expensive. Costs typically run from $15 to $30 an hour depending on where you live and the qualifications of the aide.

You pay the agency, and they handle everything, including an assessment of your parent’s needs, assigning appropriately trained staff to care for him and finding a fill-in on days the aide cannot come.

Some of the drawbacks are that you may not have much input into the selection of the caregiver, and the caregivers may change or alternate, which can cause a disruption.

To find a home care agency in your dad’s area search the internet for “home health care” or “nonmedical home care” followed by the city and state your dad lives in. You can also use Medicare’s search tool at Medicare.gov/care-compare.

Also, know that original Medicare does not cover in-home caregiving services unless your dad is receiving doctor-ordered skilled nursing or therapy services at home, too. But if your dad is in a certain Medicare Advantage plan, or is low-income and qualifies for Medicaid, he may be eligible for some coverage.

Hiring directly

Hiring an independent caregiver on your own is the other option. Costs typically range from $12 to $25 per hour. Hiring directly gives you more control over whether the person feels like a good fit.

However, if you hire someone on your own, you become the employer, so there’s no agency support to fall back on if a problem occurs. You’re also responsible for paying payroll taxes and any worker-related injuries that may happen.

If you choose this option, make sure you check the aide’s references thoroughly and do a criminal background check through a company such as eNannySource.com.

If you use an elder care matching service such as Care.com or CareLinx.com, both provide basic background checks.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org.