Friday, February 26, 2010

Care.com - New Resource for Families Seeking Caregivers

Families, there is a new nationwide resource for finding that special caregiver for your love one. The new nationwide resource is http://www.care.com/. I joined up for a thirty days membership and found the service like a dating service.

I entered all the necessary information of my mom who has dementia and checked off the requirements for the caregivers. Based on my requirements the best caregiver for my mom is between the age of 26 to 30 years old, a non-smoker, no caregiver agency, has transportation with insurance and lives within 5 miles of my mom's house. Mom still lives in her home. The caregiver data search delivered six possible caregivers.

If you like a specific caregiver you can send a message to the caregiver to set up an appointment. Care.com provides a limited background check or for a fee provides you with a indepth background check. The bottom line for any search for a caregiver is the depth of qualified caregivers that meets your qualifications. So far I have not found that special caregiver for my mom. I'm a little unusual because I currently manage a staff of three caregivers and one part timer. I designated one of my caregivers, a former emergency nurse and has a strong management background to be my head caregiver. I live in Los Angeles but I visit mom almost every other week.

Mom's caregivers take her out to shopping centers, doggie parks and senior citizen activity centers every day. Two of my caregivers are filipina and speaks Tagalog however, mom does not speak the language anymore. Finding the right caregiver was not easy.... Craigslist, word-of-mouth, caregivers agencies, nursing schools; all the above. I have a person who can provide a detail background check and I am now experienced in qualifiying caregivers on the phone and during my indepth interviews. The bottom line is the interaction between mom and the caregiver. I wish care.com was available several years ago as one more resource.

8 comments:

Tina Wilson said...

CaregiverGuy,

WOW!!! Caregiver, thanks for getting back into the saddle. My family misses you. Thanks for providing us with information on care.com. I'm curious why did you require a five mile radius for your caregiver.

Tina
Dallas, Texas

James Blount said...

CaregiverGuy

Thanks for the email. Man I miss you. Still taking care of mom and I'm at my end of the road. Mom's dementia is driving me off the clift. The wife left me also. I need a caregiver to give me a break and sometimes a long weekend. Man, how did you handle it for so many years? God Bless you CaregiveGuy and pleasssse keep on posting. We need you.

James
Seattle, WA

June Wilson said...

CaregiverGuy

Thanks for the Care.com tip. I will pass it on to my fellow caregivers at my support group meeting next Wednesday.

June Wilson
Kansas City

Anonymous said...

Mr. CaregiverGuy

My husband is making my life total hell. What type of caregiver is going to be able to take care of him? My children will not help and my friends refuse to even visit me.

Lonely and Scared
Montana

Caregiver Guy said...

Love and Scared,

I'm no social service expert but you need to reach out to a caregiver support group or if there is none near you please contact a friend, your husband's physician or church. Good Luck and God Bless you.

Anonymous said...

Caregiver Guy

This is Love and Scared. I contacted my minister and my church will be sending a group members to help me.

Thanks

Joe Williams said...

Caregiver Guy

Thanks for the care.com info. Gone through the local agencies, craigslist and word-of-mouth. Very frustrating to find that right caregiver for your father. How do you handle the expenses? It must be megabucks to have a staff of caregivers.

Joe
San Diego, CA

Caregiver Guy said...

Tina,

Thanks! How is your mom? Tina, are you taking care of yourself?

I requested a caregiver who lives within 5 miles because in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area traffic is terrible so a caregiver who lives for example in San Jose which is about 30 miles from my mom may arrive late because of traffic and the trip back to her home may take up to 45 minutes. We also must consider the cost of gasoline and the wear and tear of their cars. It all adds up and the caregiver will start looking for a job closer to home or asking for more money,

Thanks
CaregiverGuy