Choosing a Home Health Aide for Your Family Member with Cancer
As any family with a loved one who has cancer knows, finding support is vital to keeping EVERYONE healthy through the process, even if it’s just one day a week. While friends and family are great, in the event you decide to hire a home health aide, there are questions you should definitely ask before giving that person access to your home and your family.
Here are five questions to help you get started with the process and find the best person to support you and your patient through this time of recovery. It’s very important to remember to take your time and be sure that the aide has the other qualities most important to you and your family too, however. Take the time to ask your family members what those qualities are – for instance, is it vital that the aide is quiet – or would you rather have someone friendly and bubbly? That’s just one example, but the time you put into the hiring process at the beginning can save you hours of frustration as you go through aide after aide if you DON’T do your due diligence properly.
5 Questions to Use When Choosing a Home Health Aide
- Is the Home Health Aide certified and formally trained and how long have they worked in your community?
- Is the patient’s course of treatment documented, detailing the specific tasks to be carried out by the home health aide?
- What are the financial procedures of this provider?
- What procedures does this provider have in place to handle emergencies? Are its caregivers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
- How does this provider ensure patient confidentiality?
In addition, definitely request that your potential Aide supply you with a list of references (and call them all). These may be doctors or nurses, discharge planners, patients or family members that they’ve worked with before.
Samantha Mayfield
Intake Coordinator
Camelot Cancer Care
