Many people initially assume that hiring a caregiver directly will be easier and less expensive than working through an agency, but this is usually not the case. Since they are usually under stress when hiring, people don’t always think the home care relationship all the way through.

Hiring an Acquaintance

Sometimes people believe that hiring an acquaintance or someone recommended by a friend will be easier, less expensive, or less intrusive into their day-to-day family life than going through an agency.

A few days or weeks into the relationship, if they decide that the person they hired is not working out as they had envisioned, they are at a loss as to how to handle the situation. They may be afraid of hurting someone’s feelings, so they let the person stay on, even though the professional relationship isn’t working.

With a home care agency, this is never an issue. A simple phone call resolves the problem at once.

One of the worst things to happen occurs when you need to be somewhere and nobody shows up to care for your loved one. Imagine you’ve been up all night caring for your parent or spouse. You have an important day at work coming up and you’ve managed to get ready to leave on time. You’re waiting for the care person to arrive, and the minutes tick by, but nobody comes. You’re getting frantic. You’re going to be late for work and you don’t know what to do.

Worst Case Scenario.

If you’ve made a direct hire, you have nothing to fall back on at a time when you may need all the support you can get. You may have to make a lot of phone calls to find someone who is free to stay with your loved one. In the worst case, you might miss a day of work. If this scenario happens at night instead of in the morning, you might have to go without sleep.

This uncertain situation only adds to the natural stress of caring for someone who is ill. If you hire home care through an agency, a single phone call is all it takes to ensure that another qualified professional caregiver is immediately on the way.

Best Case Scenario

You shouldn’t have to deal with the complexities of hiring and firing when coping with family health issues. This is a time when you should be good to yourself. It’s a time to let someone else take care of details.

Let Home Matters Home Care manage schedules and other details while you focus on more important things.