Since December of 2018, I have had 24/7 caregivers for my husband that work in 12 hr shifts. His condition is not severe, but I have a 103 yr old mother in a facility & a business to check on daily, so I have to be able to leave immediately if called. I have only been happy with 3 of the many, many people they have sent, because they are the only ones who are still coming & have developed a relationship with him. The people who hire & schedule can’t seem to understand the personality type he needs no matter how much I try to explain. Most have never been caregivers before nor can they cook. One 21 yr old panicked when I asked her to make a salad while I was away!!! Any suggestions or reports on companies or how to privately hire would be so appreciated!
Knock on wood, when my Dad needed around the clock caregivers, he had a couple of perfect matches for him. Dad was easy going and wanted someone who he could chat with and tell all of his stories, thus someone with a similar background as Dad.
As for cooking, to Dad it wasn't important just as long as something was on a plate in front of him. He'd be happy with a bowl of cereal for dinner [so do I as cooking is extremely stressful for me, science projects that go totally wrong]. Dad was happy with his favorite TV dinners, heck he was in his 90's so why not give him what he liked :) His day caregiver didn't like cooking, either, so she was thrilled to do the TV dinners, so she kept busy keeping the house looking neat and clean.
Dad's weekend day caregiver loved to cook from scratch, so she would make meals and set in the refrigerator dated for use.
I noticed the age of caregiver was important to Dad. Dad's two favorite caregivers were mature women who had cared for their own elderly parents. Dad wasn't fond of the younger generation caregivers, too glued to their cellphones, thus the lost art of actual human conversations.
What I did like about caregiving agencies was the fact they were licensed, bonded, insured, and had workman comp in case one of their employees got hurt on the job. They did all the payroll and payroll taxes. If a caregiver was running late, the previous caregiver had to wait before he/she could leave, or if there was a wide span of delay, then another caregiver would come to fill in. Dad was never without someone at his house. Even in the dead of winter, the owner of the local nationwide agency would drive the caregivers to their clients in his 4 wheel drive.
I had used Home Instead and would recommend them highly. There are also other fine nationwide agencies out there, too.
Oh, if you private hire, you would need to contact your homeowner's insurance carrier and purchase a "workman comp" policy for that person who is now "your employee".