Home Instead Senior Care

The Company: Home Instead Senior Care

Home Instead Senior Care provides non-medical services for seniors that need some extra help. Although the focus is on home care, the company also offers services at assisted care facilities, or anywhere that extra care and companionship is needed. Some of the services offered include:

• Companionship
• Meal preparation
• Light housekeeping
• Medication reminders
• Shopping
• Running errands

One of the features that the company promotes is regular reports to family members. This can bring great peace of mind to a family member living out of state, but worried about an elderly parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or other family member. Not only will the company provide the extra help the senior needs, but will report back on the person's progress and any issues of concern. This can come in handy if the senior grows ill and needs medical treatment, or needs additional help in areas such as housework or cooking, services which the company and caregivers can also provide.

Stress of Caring for an Elderly Family Member

About 25 percent of today's adults are caring, in some capacity, for an aging parent or relative. For anyone who has ever cared for an ailing family member, the stresses can be quite high. Not only is there the time strain, but the emotional impact of watching someone who has always been healthy, strong and a role model takes its toll on the family member providing care.

According to a study conducted by Home Instead Senior Care, about 31 percent of those adults say they would like more help in providing care. About 25 percent resent other family members who do not provide any help in the care.

Many times, grown children are providing care for an elderly or ill parent. At the same time, that person may have outside responsibilities making a demand on his or her time, such as:

• Work
• Children
• Family
• Home
• Second job
• Coaching or school volunteer commitments

It can be hard to juggle all of these obligations and still provide the one-on-one care needed by some seniors. The result is a stressed adult who feels guilty for not spending more time with Mom or Dad. Or, if the adult is spending extra time in care, he or she may feel guilty for not spending more time with the children or spouse. In addition, the person's job may suffer, as he or she cannot spend as much time at work.

One Possible Solution

A solution to this problem is hiring in-home care givers to help with some of the day-to-day tasks mentioned above. The caregiver can fill the gap on days when the family caregiver has other commitments, or can just ease some of the time related stresses. Caregivers can even drive the elderly person to doctor appointments or just provide some extra conversation when needed.

Although Home Instead Senior Care is one solution, and has franchises in many states, there are many qualified and caring individuals who work independently as well. There are many ways to find care, such as:

Church: Post a sign on the church bulletin board or a note in the newsletter that you are looking for a person to help with a senior's care. Be specific about what duties the person will be expected to perform and what qualifications you want this person to have.

Newspaper: Advertise for help in the local newspaper. Be cautious if you open up the candidate search to the public. Be sure to get plenty of references and a background check for safety purposes and check in regularly, especially when the person first begins working.

Online Job Searches: Post a job position on the online job sites, such as Monster.com, seeking a caregiver.

Ask Friends: Ask friends if they know of anyone who might enjoy serving as caregiver. College students are often good candidates, as they have flexible hours and only need part-time work.

Conclusion

Be patient and interview as many candidates as necessary to find the perfect caregiver. If you prefer to use the Home Instead Senior Care offices, you can do a search for caregivers in your area on the company's website.