If your loved one is struggling to keep up with personal hygiene, driving, managing their medications, or other day to day tasks, it might be time to consider hiring an in-home caregiver. This is a very personal decision. Your family member deserves the best care possible and finding an empathetic, patient, and kind caregiver is of utmost importance.

But how do you begin the search for finding that person?

It can feel daunting. Here are some tips on how to find the most qualified and compassionate in-home caregiver for older adults.

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1: What do you really need?
Does your loved one need full-time or part-time care? Will medication need to be administered, or do they just need help with taking them to appointments and helping them around the home with bathing, cooking, running errands, etc? Knowing exactly what you need will help determine if you need a companion, home care aide/assistant, or a medical caregiver like a registered nurse. Look at what level of experience your family member will require so you don’t waste your time interviewing people that don’t have the qualifications you need.

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2: Always check in with their doctors and nurses
Your loved one likely has an established team of doctors that knows their medical history. Talk to the medical team about their recommendations for caregivers or where to look. They can also help you determine what type of care they’ll need which will help narrow down your search.

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3: Narrow down the field‍

There are different ways to search for caregivers such as placement agencies and home health agencies. However Mosaic Solutions can really help in this area. By filling out our questionnaire, which will allow us to narrow down the list of providers in North and South Carolina for you based on your criteria. Then our proprietary AI model can help you narrow down even further.

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4: Be prepared
When you narrow down some candidates to meet in-person, make sure you know what to ask. Cover as much territory as you can during the interview process. Here are some questions to consider asking:

-How long have you been a caregiver? What do you enjoy/love most about your career?
-What’s your communication style?
-What’s your methodology/approach to caregiving?
-How do you like to be matched with an older adult?  What kind of people do you work most seamlessly with?
-How would you handle X situation with my loved one?

Try to get a feel for how they would handle difficult scenarios inside the home with the senior. Make sure your communication styles align or can co-exist well together. If not, it can make things difficult later down the road when things need to be discussed.

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5: Check, check and double check 

Does the caregiver have licensures and credentials that are up to date? Ask the candidate to show proof of this. If they provide references, call them and get as many details as you can about the type of care they provided their previous patients in the past. It’s worthwhile to also do a true background check if the person is not coming to you from an agency. Trying to do this on your own can be difficult but there are companies like SentryLink and others who can help, according to WayWiser. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. Your loved one is worth every bit of research that you do ahead of time. 

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At Mosaic Solutions we provide caregivers with quick and easy way to help them find easy care solutions. We also provide a suite of services which provide a support community, virtual assistant and knowledge center making it easier for you to find the care and answers/solutions you need. Access our suite of solutions here.

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