Client Education

Care Giving and Caregivers

Finding the Right Caregiver

By: Deborah Sullivan Brennan, Special to AccentCare

Once you know your loved one needs professional help, the next step is hiring a caregiver with the right skills, experience and personality for his or her needs. The easiest way to find such a person is to contact a senior care agency or geriatric care coordinator, who will assess your senior and match him or her with a screened, qualified caregiver.

Families who can't afford an agency can hire a caregiver on their own, said Rebecca Huerta Sussman, intake coordinator for the Coast Caregiver Center in Santa Barbara, Calif. "But in saving money you may compromise the patient's health or care," she warned. "So that's why you have to do a lot of the footwork the agency would do."

The first step is pinpointing what kind of care your loved one needs. The same problem, such as trouble with housework, might have a variety of causes, including memory disorders, failing vision, problems with balance, or joint and back ailments. A senior with difficulty reaching and bending may simply require a weekly housekeeping visit or household modifications to make the task easier. A person with more serious medical or neurological problems might need a full-time caregiver or placement in a retirement home. Trouble dressing might require the help of an attendant, or just new clothes with Velcro fasteners or pull-on styling.

Some hospitals provide assessments by a team of a physician, nurse and social worker, said Monique Snyder, a certified geriatric care manager in Carmel, Calif. A primary-care physician can also examine the senior. And some local or county agencies provide free or low-cost care assessments, Snyder said. Once you know what help you need, you're ready to search for a caregiver.

"We recommend that when seniors are hiring an attendant, they first try to do it through friends and family, someone they know," Huerta Sussman said. She suggests seeking references through a church, synagogue or temple: "You're working within a community and are more likely to get someone who is trustworthy," she said.

Check at colleges or universities with programs in geriatrics or disability care. In California, regional Caregiver Resource Centers provide information and referrals. In other states, county aging departments often offer caregiver listings. Local senior centers are also a good place to start.

When you're ready to interview applicants, Sussman and others involved in caregiving said, consider asking these questions:
Where have you worked before and when?
How long were you at that job? Why did you leave?
What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
How do you feel about caring for someone?
Do you have any physical or emotional disabilities that would interfere with the work?
Can you handle verbal abuse (if the patient suffers from dementia)?
How would you deal with a medical emergency?

The caregiver should have training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, Sussman said. Call the applicant's references, and request that he or she get fingerprinted and submit to a criminal background check. As you interview applicants, match the senior's personality with that of the caregiver, Goodrich said. A gregarious patient might need a livelier caregiver, while a shy senior might prefer someone quiet and low-key. If the senior habitually resists medical treatment or other assistance, "you need someone who will be strong and firm, but not take away their dignity. That's a real special skill."

Deborah Sullivan Brennan is a freelance writer based in Idyllwild, Calif. She previously worked for newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Palm Springs Desert Sun.