© Danielle Robertson Consulting Pty Ltd t/as DR Care Solutions
When you are looking for in home care for your loved one, it is important to get the right service provider to assist you. Home care providers come into their home, engage in very personal activities such as showering and toileting, attending medical appointments with them or supporting them during a time of vulnerability such as after a hospital discharge. Home care providers share the most intimate part of your loved ones life.
There are now around 2,500 home care providers in Australia at this time. Many of them are new to the home care industry. This is mainly due to expansion of home care markets caused by the Aged Care Reform and the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Many providers are expanding their service offerings to include home care (they may have previously provided residential care or respite care only). Other new services are entering the market from overseas, interstate or through franchise opportunities. So how do you know that you are getting a quality service, which is safe, reliable and dependable?
With many services entering the aged and disability markets there is a risk of using a provider who is not approved to provided funded care. Check that they are an ‘Approved Aged Care Provider’ with the necessary compliance requirements. You can also ask them for if they are accredited.
Home Care Providers spend every day matching a delicate jigsaw puzzle of clients and carers. It is important to ensure that they can provide you with a consistent care team so that you know they will be there for your loved ones when you can’t be.
Some providers may simply allocate a carer to the service and provide a written instruction sheet of tasks to complete during the service. On the other hand, some quality providers have a thorough meet and greet process where training is provided to the care team on the individual care needs and new carers are formally introduced and trained to join the care team. Additionally, ask whether they have cultural and linguistically diversity carer base if that is a requirement.
Due to the substantially increasing home care market, there is more demand for in home carers than the training organisations can provide. If a service organisation cannot provide a carer, it is important to know whether services will be outsourced to another provider with a cost incurred to the service provider or whether your appointment is simply cancelled or rescheduled.
Having a name and a phone number to call when you need to speak to someone about care is important. The last thing you want is a generic contact number to a call centre where you a number on a screen instead of a person who needs help.
Finding a suitable Home Care Provider can be daunting and frustrating. It presents fear, uncertainty and doubt for those who are searching for it. The pressure of finding the perfect service provider for such an intimate, professional and quality service for your loved one can be overwhelming and stressful particularly if there is a sense of urgency to find care.
These few questions will help weed out the services that don’t meet your needs. DR Care Solutions is here to help guide you through this difficult maze. A key part of the service offering is pre-selecting a panel of quality service providers for you to meet to explore their match to your loved ones needs.
For more information on how we can help, contact Danielle Robertson, DR Care Solutions.