One of the things we were able to do for my father-in-law was to give him three summers living semi-independently in his home in Massachusetts.  He could still perform the activities of daily living so that wasn’t an issue.  The big problem was transportation.  There is no public transportation and we removed the car.

In order to allow him to go grocery shopping we hired the services of in home care service.  The agency provided a companion who, once a week, took my father-in-law shopping, did light house work and laundry.  He also reported to us anything that he though was out of sync.  For example, he told us that there were times when there was no laundry to wash.

This in home care service was a wonderful addition to our lives.  My father-in-law asked for so little.  It made us so happy that we were able to give him the opportunity to still attend the concerts that he loved so much.  We would not have been able to do without the companion service.

A companion is not allowed to bathe the client or give out medication.  There is usually a four hour minimum and you pay the agency directly.

If you are contemplating hiring a service here are some of the things you should look for:

Are they licensed?

Are they accredited?

Are they bonded?

In our case, the owner did the initial assessment.  Who does the assessment for your company?

What guidelines do the companions have to follow?

Make sure they know what you expect of them.  Let them know if any rooms are out of bounds.

I told our companion about my father-in-law’s  background so that he would have a better understanding of him.  Be sure you fill them in also about your LO.

These in home care agencies made all of our lives so much better.