{"id":14042,"date":"2017-11-10T09:11:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T14:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/?p=14042"},"modified":"2020-06-15T12:19:37","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T16:19:37","slug":"finding-senior-caregiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/finding-senior-caregiver\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find a Senior Caregiver through an Agency or on Your Own"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Finding

Finding a senior caregiver takes time, effort, and resources to get it right.<\/p><\/div>\n

Finding a senior caregiver who is right for your elderly loved one is not easy. Prepare yourself by laying out your budget and time commitment to the hiring process before starting the search for senior care.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll go over the basics of hiring in-home caregivers through a placement or home health care agency as well as hiring directly.<\/p>\n

The information that follows is adapted from How to Hire a Caregiver for Your Senior: Your Complete Guide to Finding, Employing, and Retaining In-Home Help<\/em><\/a> by GTM Payroll Services Founder and CEO Guy Maddalone. The book goes into greater detail on the hiring process as well as paying for care, retaining employees, and much more.<\/p>\n

Finding a senior caregiver through an agency<\/h2>\n

Finding in-home caregivers through an agency will cost more, but save you time and the hassles of the hiring process. They are experienced in matching the right candidates with senior care needs of a family. Agencies may also offer services such as background screening of candidates, post-hire assistance, and back-up or replacement care.<\/p>\n

Other services an agency may perform for you include phone screening, face-to-face interviews, personality testing, drug testing, education verification, and reference and background checking.<\/p>\n

Agencies may also help with developing your job offer, writing a job description, creating a compensation package, training employees, and providing post-hire support.<\/p>\n

While an agency will do a lot of the \u201cheavy lifting\u201d during the hiring process, you need to be specific about your senior care needs including special diets, allergies, and medications. Also talk about your elderly loved one\u2019s personality, interests, and qualities. Be as detailed as possible about the placement including compensation, benefits, hours (including on-call hours), length of commitment, and travel requirements (if any).<\/p>\n

This will help the agency find suitable candidates for your position. The agency will ask you a lot of questions to help guide the placement but there are questions you’ll need to ask the agency including:<\/p>\n