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The Complete Guide to Live-In Care Services

Choosing live-in care services is a smart option for seniors who want to stay at home but realize they’ll need some extra help.

There are many benefits to live-in care, and we will be covering many topics in this article.

Specifically, you’ll learn more about:

How Long Does It Take To Start Live-In Care?

How quickly services start depends on the client and the situation. Ideally, we would have a week or longer to find the right caregiver for your parent, but time isn’t always a luxury we have in this business.

We once received a call on Christmas eve, which happened to be on a Friday that year, right as the office was about to close. A family was looking for live-in services because it was the only way to have Dad home for the holidays. Otherwise, he would have to stay in the hospital.

In that scenario, availability became the more important attribute of our caregivers. Still, we prefer to have the time to match the right caregiver based on their ability and availability. We can send Mary Poppins to your parent’s home, and it just might not be the best personality match, so there is no perfect formula, but with the proper time, we often have great success.

How Do I Find a Live-In Caregiver?

There is three main way to discover an agency (like Minute Women) to provide life in care services.

Social Workers

Every hospital and nursing facility has social workers or case managers whose job is to educate you on your options when discharging home. They can make recommendations to you about which companies to call for services.

Word-of-Mouth

While declining parents isn’t always a hot topic to speak about, most adults have experienced it somehow. You would be surprised by the number of families with first-hand experiences with senior care services, like live-in care. Ask your friends, neighbors, and co-workers what their experiences are, and you likely will get some advice.

Google Maps

Google searches are often the first step in finding a live-in care services provider. Customers finding us on Google has become increasingly common. With Google, you can do your research. View a companies website, staff, and culture. You can also read their reviews online and see what their reputation is.

What Does a Live-In Caregiver Do?

Live-in caregivers have two primary responsibilities when it comes to their clients.

Safety

You are considering hiring us to care for your parent because you feel that they no longer can live independently in their own home. Whether it’s repeated falls, dementia, or becoming frail, safety is the number one concern with families considering live-in care services.

Quality of Life

The other reason you wish to keep your parent at home is that they want to stay home and would be happier there than in a nursing home. Our caregivers are there to provide the best comfort that we can. While everyone is different, it could be reading the newspaper and watching the Red Sox each night. It might be the ability to still have family and friends over for small gatherings. No matter the reason, the caregiver has the responsibility to provide care in a manner that allows your parent to enjoy the best quality of life possible.

What Are The Responsibilities Of A Live-In Caregiver?

As for what live-in caregivers do every day for your parents, it can change drastically from client to client. It is safe to say that these specific tasks are part of a live-in caregiver’s normal routine:

  • Laundry and linens
  • Meal preparation
  • Fall prevention
  • Help with dressing and grooming
  • Taking out the trash
  • Getting the mail
  • Personal care and grooming
  • General safety awareness

How Does A Caregiver Become A Live-In Caregiver?

There are many reasons someone would be interested in moving into a client’s home and providing care for your parents. The main reason is that it provides them stable income compared to hourly care services.

The main benefit of live-in care is the stability of work and consistency of care for your parents. Many caregivers prefer to work in the same environment with the same client.

Additionally, changes in a caregiver’s family circumstances will allow them to become a live-in caregiver. For caregivers who have younger children at home, a live-in case would be impossible. Still, later down the road, when those children are grown and can be on their own, the freedom of that responsibility allows caregivers the ability to spend days at their parent’s home rather than a few hours.

Do Caregivers Pay Rent?

Caregivers do not pay rent to work in your home. Part of the lowered cost of live-in care compared to hourly care is staying in the home, eating meals, and sleeping at night.

The benefit for you and your parents is that someone is available during the day to provide hands-on care and that there is someone at one site at night that can help tend to emergencies.

When Do Caregivers Sleep?

Caregivers do get to sleep at night. As mentioned in the previous section, part of the reduced costs is that you have a caregiver available at night for emergencies, but for the most part, they get to sleep through the night until work starts the next day.

Additionally, it wouldn’t be long before caregivers started making mistakes or falling asleep in the middle of the day if they had to be awake all night. This standard is a win-win situation for many seniors because many sleep through the night and do not need around-the-clock care.

With live-in care services, you receive the best of both worlds with the peace of mind that someone is there if your loved ones need assistance.

How Many Hours Per Day Do Caregivers Work?

This figure can vary day-to-day, but we expect the caregiver to provide care for up to sixteen hours per day. The reality is that most seniors are not as active as they once were, so there may be long periods sitting on the couch, reading, or watching TV. We bring this up because sixteen hours a day sounds like a lot, but we usually compare caregivers to lifeguards; they aren’t always saving people in the ocean, but you are glad to see them when you need life-saving treatment.

Do you need help finding the right live-in caregiver for you or a loved one? Minute Women can help!

Contact Us now to learn about how we can help you.

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24-Hour Home Care for the Elderly

Aging in place with 24-hour home care has become a popular option for the elderly, especially since COVID has become widespread.

As of 2021, 75% of seniors and retirees wish to age in place and do not want to move into communities or nursing facilities. COVID has made that even more pronounced as many nursing homes and assisted living communities had overwhelming numbers of infections and deaths.

Before COVID, nearly 1/3rd of seniors were lonely and felt isolated. Nursing homes and assisted living communities that socially engage seniors began to deteriorate. Caregivers faced difficult decisions to take on increased workloads or resign.

Even if infections didn’t occur in those facilities, seniors found themselves isolated and alone in the communities where they lived. Unable to see visitors or even other residents, they were left alone in a small room to pass the time for 14 months. Many declined from being isolated for so long.

These communities were choosing between the lesser of two evils. Still, this has caused many families to consider home care services to have protection while preserving visitation.

 

What you will learn in this blog:

Types of 24-Hour Home Care

There are two major types of 24-hour home care you can receive for your elderly parent.

The first is hourly care, and the second is live-in care.

Hourly Care

Hourly care involves two caregivers in the home for twelve hours per shift, totaling up to a 24-hour day. Usually, the shifts split at 8 AM and 8 PM. There are usually 4-6 caregivers on the case because each caregiver can only work three shifts before going into overtime.

Home care agencies usually charge on a per-hour basis for care. The caregivers can help at any hour of the night to provide fast, reliable response times.

24-hour care for the elderly usually comes up when your parent is up at night often and also active during the day. Prescriptions, dementia, and other medical complications can cause seniors to be awake all night, leading to lost sleep and safety risks during the day.

24-hour care is the most expensive care you can receive, but it ensures your parent has access to an aide anytime they need assistance. It provides peace of mind to adult children concerned about their parent’s safety and respects parents’ decision to age in place.

Live-In Care

Your other option for 24-hour care is a live-in service.

Live-in service means that a caregiver lives at home with your parent for some time. With live-in care, you have fewer caregivers working with your parent, which provides a higher level of continuity.

Live-in services provide the most care for the least amount of money. However, the drawback is that the caregiver can only provide care for sixteen hours out of the day. The other eight is for sleeping and personal time.

To provide quality care during the day, the caregiver must sleep at night. Your parent should sleep through the night or be able to manage to go to the bathroom on their own.

Your parent will receive 24-hour care in the sense that someone is always a few steps away. You also have a caregiver on-site 24-hours per day if there is a crisis.

The other unwritten expectation of a live-in is that it will last for a far longer duration. The idea is that the caregiver accepts the case with the expectation that it will last for many future visits. This expectation isn’t a contractual obligation, but when someone considers moving into someone else’s home, they’ll want to understand their employment length.

Looking for the best hourly or live-in care services? Learn more about everything Minute Women Home Care has to offer!

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Why Use 24-Hour Home Care Services?

There are many reasons why families choose 24-hour home care for their elderly loved ones. The most common are medical emergencies, repeated falls, and worsening dementia.

Medical Emergencies

One situation we often see involves unexpected medical emergencies, falls, strokes, or other injuries that result in a hospitalization. After a hospital discharge, families realize they need help. Their mom or dad cannot be left alone.

These medical emergencies happen unexpectedly, causing stress and chaos on how a family will get mom or dad back home safely. We find that emergencies are, unfortunately, the catalyst for many of our 24/7 care cases.

Repeated Falls

Repeated falls are a complex issue for seniors. Falls are spontaneous and potentially life-threatening. Injuries from falls can leave families feeling that any coverage gap is a mortal risk for their parents. Repeated falls can lead to a further decline in their baseline abilities.

That’s why many families choose around-the-clock private home care to supplement fall prevention.

Dementia

Dementia is a common reason families call us. As dementia worsens, adult children must decide if they should move their loved ones into a facility or keep them at home. There are pros and cons to each. For many families, they decide to keep their loved one at home for as long as possible. This decision usually involves 24/7 care. 

When someone’s dementia worsens, they wander, which can be a risk to themselves and their home. Falls and emotional outbursts can happen more frequently. Having 24/7 home care for the elderly with dementia is often required for families who want to keep their parents out of the nursing home.

Key Takeaways

Providing 24-hour home care for the elderly is expensive. It’s the most expensive type of care you can get, but for those who can afford the cost, it also provides the most security that your parent will be safe while they age in place and you won’t move them into a nursing home.

This support provides you the peace of mind that your mom or dad is safe in their home. You can rest easy knowing you won’t be getting late-night emergency phone calls.

Are your ready to take the next step for your loved one’s home care needs? Contact Minute Women today!

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CONTACT US
Contact Us:

Minute Women Home Care
594 Marrett Rd #13
Lexington, MA 02421
Phone: 781-862-3300
Fax: 781-861-7721

Service Area:

Arlington, Auburndale, Bedford, Belmont, Burlington, Cambridge, Lexington, Lincoln, Medford, Newton, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, West Newton, Winchester, Woburn.

Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts Accredited
National Aging in Place Council Member Home Care Association of America Massachusetts