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How to Know that In-Home Care Is Working Out Well for Mom

You hired an in-home care agency to look after your elderly mother a few months ago. Maybe it was only a week or two ago. With your busy schedule or the distance between you and her, you understood that in-home care was the best elder care choice to make.

She might not have seen it that way at first, but too often people are afraid of what they don’t understand. There’s a lack of information and understanding among Americans these days when it comes to in-home care support or any other type of elder care for that matter.

You want to make sure that your mother is safe, well cared for, and is being supported while you are unable to physically be there with her. That’s why you turned to a local in-home care agency.

You understood the difference between agencies and independent caregivers.

When you hire an agency to provide in-home care support, you are hiring a team. Even though perhaps only one or maybe two home care aides would be working with your mother throughout each week, you understand there is a long line of people behind them.

If one of them is sick or has a family emergency (such as their child is suddenly sick and is going to be home from school, so they can’t be there to support their clients), someone else can step in to provide the supports your aging mother requires.

You don’t get that through independent caregivers. When you hire an independent home care provider, if they have some type of emergency or reason they can’t make it to work that day, you or your mother would have to scramble and find somebody else. Or she would have to go without the necessary help.

You also recognized that quality agencies provide ongoing training and support to ensure that the caregivers they have working for them are top-notch. That is such an important aspect of elder care these days.

But, how can you know your mother is well-off with this in-home care aide?

In-Home Care Thompsons Station TN – How to Know that In-Home Care Is Working Out Well for Mom

Ask her. Is there a reason why you wouldn’t want to ask your mother how things are going after a couple of weeks? Or maybe after the first day when you could call her?
It might be a tricky subject for some people, especially if they worry their aging loved one has been trying to make them feel guilty about this new change, having to rely on what they viewed as a total stranger, but after the first day or two, most seniors realize just how beneficial it is to have a professional supporting them rather than just family.

You can also ask to speak to the in-home care aide. You don’t want to get in the habit of calling this person or having them call you daily, but once in a while you can check in and see how everything is progressing.

You can also speak to the administrators at the agency if there’s anything causing you concern. Mostly, though, you can get the best information you’d want directly from the proverbial horse’s mouth, your mom, in this example.