We need someone who can come to the house and spend time with my mother. Where do we start looking, and who exactly should we look for?

Did you look into adult day care? It may be at your YMCA or local church. You can also call your council on aging who may have a list. Some may be able to provide care vouchers. All you need to do is call them

There are some RNs who run services who will come to your home and evaluate the situation and then make suggestions for the level of caregivers you need. Yes, it can be expensive, but compare it to moving mom into a care center.
Good Luck

Ask your church or office on aging if they have anyone willing to be a companion. My coworker had one for her mother and when she lost a client we hired her for one day a week for my father (I wanted 2 but my father was too cheap). She did a minimum of 3 hours a day and did anything except personal care (I think she was ok with doing that for women but not men). Charged $15-20 per hour. It was great to have an extra set of eyes. I told her I didn't care what she did with him but if it got to her doing light housework she needed to make my father participate. he had a habit of getting people to help him with things he couldn't be bothered doing which made him more helpless. So every Monday they did laundry together.

Is she able to attend a senior center respite program or adult day care?

tbevan25: Perhaps you can start with the COA (Council on Aging) in your parents' locality who should have on staff an elder case worker and also a social worker.

A good place to start for options and referrals is with her PCP who best knows her current level of care needs which will impact the who , what, when etc of help in the home. Remember too that she may react very differently with someone new than with family ( positive or negative). Is other biological family available to start with ?

I started off with "Seniors helping Seniors". They are not medical people but people that come by and do simple things, spending time talking, light chores, going for walks, etc. This work well until mom need more care.

Same thing... an in home sitter a couple days a week to give my 97 y/o mother someone to talk//visit/with she also does light house cleaning...I can spend a day/2 just relaxing..nothing serious....I located a small family service a friend had used for his late mother..---word of mouth can be the key....BEST WISHES...

I have 4 private sitters who I've found through word of mouth and asking around. They are all retired or ladies who only want one to two days a few hours a week for extra money.

They come and sit with my mother for 2-4 hours so I can get out.

I've never used an agency mainly because the ones near me require a minimum 5 hours day and 8 hours night and I don't have that much to do.

The LT care insurance is for NOW! - personal care isn’t paid by Medicare and it does depend on your policy. - our allow family caregiver as long as they aren’t living there or doing care now.
three options:
1) If you just need a companion, I’d try local colleges with nursing or social service students (ideally graduate level) - or some one who is studying an area of interest to LO - we are considering a barter arrangement with one student who would have free room and board and stay with LO who .sleeps through the night.(barter or “slightly above min wage)

2) work of mouth - cultivate a network in your community lhrough senior center (which dad may enjoy) or religious groups - neighbors and family. Trust your gut and get references or ask someone you know who LO enjoys being with. This person will not have back up so you might need to have flexibility- depends on LO needs (18-25/ hour)
also local groups may offer moms meals or other supports to reduce burden on caregiver (ours provided housekeeping 2x month until we hired personal care aid through LTC insurance

3) if you need meal prep, laundry or bathing dressing - this is a personal care aid.Aging .com can provide you a list of Staffing agencies in your area that will send you folks to meet first and then, if it’s a match, you hire them. If not they sent another until you find a fit (25-32 /hour).(LTC insurance)

we are working on a combo of all 3 right now (mild - moderate ALZ)
1- M-F 10-7pfamily personal care giver paid by LTC insurance
2- weekends/ overnight - staffing agency LTC insurance (she has little ones who come and visit 1 brightens moms day)
3- M-F overnight back up and general companionship - college student (companionship) free room and board
Also my brother works virtually from LO basement as backup and my hubby and I take care of all external stuff (finances, groceries, bill pay etc)

VIP: also consider POA and trust options - spend down may be needed to qualify for Medicaid when LTC runs out.


hope this helps

Senior home care agency for a CNA . Contact elder services or a senior center . Also Care.com or the Next Door Neighborhood app people advertise on there a lot .

I am trying to do the same. My mom lives with me and we need help. Visit angels, etc are roughly $38 hr and require a minimum amount of hours per week. This adds up fast. I am using care.com and my local neighborhood online app to find caregivers who work on their own. So far $20-25 hr.

Good Morning,

Your local parish...

I suggest a church. Call a church and ask the secretary if they keep a list of parishioners who are caregivers.

Any homecare agency has homemaker/companions. There job is basic housekeeping, running errands, taking the clients on outings, and socialization. They don't do any hands-on care.
A website like care.com can help if you want to privately hire someone.

I think rather than caregivers or companions if there is an Adult Day Program in your area getting her involved with that is a better idea.
She would probably get picked up in the morning, get a breakfast, a lunch have activities and dropped off at home in the afternoon.
She would be getting socialization and activities that she probably would not get at home.

Many nursing staffing agencies have "companions." Then there are "home health aides" and finally "certified nursing assistants."

Some non-profits have volunteers who provide respite for family caregivers.

Finally, some non-profits have adult daycare, which will often even provide transportation.

Check around. Best to you.

You may want to check with the visiting angels type thing? Go online.

When my brother was contemplating staying home with his early Lewy's I lived across the State from him and couldn't be there. I checked with them and they had light housekeeping, cooking, and SOME could drive you to appointments, shopping, post office, library, park.

You had to arrange for that ahead of time as it involved their checking licensure of the caregiver and etc. Insurance and et al.
At that time, about four years ago, was about 35 an hour and there were minimums in that they only worked for you if you needed 4 hours a day four days a week.

They DID give me some names they trusted. It is worth a call as is a call to your local council on aging. We never used them as my brother opted for a good Senior ALF after checking all his options, and sold his last small home.