In-Home Caregivers Private vs. Professional

By Kathleen Doman, Community Care Manager

My grandmother Mimi developed Alzheimer's 30 years ago. I loved her dearly, and I felt compelled to care for her in my home for 10 years. I was raising five children and working, so I needed help in caring for her. There weren't agencies devoted to assisting the elderly back then, so I privately hired caregivers.

I hired one gal whose boyfriend visited while I was at work. Then I found out he had been convicted of child molestation. Thank goodness I found out before anything bad happened. I gave her the choice to not have him over or quit she quit.

I hired a family member and my house was broken into. Our cash stash we'd been saving for Christmas was stolen. I found out six months later that it was my family member.

Then, after hiring a few other less-than-perfect gals, I was fortunate to find a wonderful caregiver. Unfortunately, she had a young daughter with health issues. She frequently had to call off work, so I frequently had to miss work too.

So, I hired a second caregiver who could fill in, but she rarely had transportation. Consequently, when she was needed I had to pack up my young children and Mimi and go pick her up. That was a pain.

I hired yet another person who did have reliable transportation, but Mimi was bad enough by then that she worked night shift. Again, I was back to calling off when my daytime caregiver needed to be off.

The night gal strained her back while helping Mimi dress. She was off for a week, so I spent that week existing on catnaps because there was no one else to care for her.

By this time, I was spending over a certain amount on wages, so I needed to withhold taxes, Worker's Compensation, Social Security, etc. from my caregiver's checks. Keeping and filing all the records was an additional drain on my time, energy, and pocketbook.

Because I work for a home healthcare agency now, I realize how much different our lives would have been if I could have simply hired an agency and let them do all the work. I could have spent more time with my children while they were growing up. I could have spent more quality time with Mimi rather than emptying catheter bags, bathing and dressing her, and such.

If you find yourself needing help in caring for someone you love, see next month's issue of Your Health Magazine for a list of 21 questions you should ask yourself.