Hiring Caregivers Guide: Learn About Hiring Senior Caregivers

How Do I Find a Reliable Companion, Health Care Aide or CNA Caregiver?  

• Care.com can be used to find local senior caregivers online, interview them in person and check all references. We can also provide options through our approved network of agencies through our senior care planning services.
• Word of mouth is an excellent way to find help. Perhaps you receive a recommendation from another family member or neighbor. Don't be afraid to ask others who have faced a similar care need. Also, consider finding recommendations through a caregiver's workshop or support group where others have hired care and know of an aide they particularly like.
• Contacting agencies and organizations that cater to local seniors, memory-impaired seniors, or disabled individuals and asking for a list of companies they recommend. This will give you agencies you can contact yourself.

How Do I Know if Hiring an Individual Home Care Aide or Companion is Right for My Loved One?

• You've spoken with a senior care advisor from Care.com who has recommended that kind of care or you have researched it on your own. Remember, Care.com provides standard background checks for everyone on our site. For your family's safety we do suggest that you do an enhanced background check as well.
• You are willing to hire, supervise, and coordinate care on your own rather than through an agency.
• You are comfortable opening your home or your loved one's home to an individual.
• You or someone else can check on the care aide and care recipient often.

What to Ask When Hiring a Companion or Certified Nursing Assistant

It's important to be very specific about what you expect from a home health assistant.  Are you looking for someone who can assist with bathing, dressing, or other activities of daily living? Or maybe just someone to make sure your loved one gets nourishment and help walking through the garden. Either way, be honest about what the home health assistant might encounter. 

Write a specific job description based on the help that is needed. Do you want someone who is:

• Trained to handle incontinence?
• Strong enough to transfer care recipient from bed to chair and back again? You may want to include the care recipient's weight.
• Experienced with dementia/Alzheimer's or other specific diseases?
• Licensed and trained to provide hands-on or personal care? Let them know they will be asked for documentation
• Willing to prepare meals, do laundry and light housekeeping?
• Valid driver's license and good driving record (if transportation is needed)?
• Able to help care recipient in and out of a car?
• Willing to run errands in own car?  Insurance coverage?

More Senior Care Services

• Call a Care.com Senior Care Advisor for more assistance: 855-490-8679
• Join in on Senior Care Conversations now! Read our informative Senior Care Blog.
• Caring for your kids AND an aging parent? Join our Sandwhich Generation Group.
• Are you caring for your parent from a distance? Have discussions with other Long Distance Senior Caregivers.
• Join our Senior Care Questions Group to get more of your questions answered and find caregivers similar to you

>>Review the Senior Care Index for all senior care options.