Your client has researched all their options and finally decided that home care is best for their loved one. Now what? As a home care provider, you understand that clients can struggle with bringing a professional into their home and trusting that person with their loved one. Your initial contact with the client should convey your understanding of their needs and that your agency welcomes the opportunity to provide services. Proper preparation for care in the home ensures that your clients benefit as much as possible from your services.
Help your client take these proactive steps to feel more comfortable with a caregiver in their home.
Relieve Apprehensions
Some clients may be apprehensive about allowing caregivers into their homes for fear of the unknown. To relieve their concerns, promote your agency’s screening and training process and assure clients that all caregivers must undergo a criminal background check. Encourage your clients to visit the Department of Health online to view official survey results mandated for each caregiver. Agencies who use Axxess Home Care can easily track license and certification requirements for their caregivers to ensure their staff is compliant before going into the home.
Encourage Boundaries
While you’ll want your client to create a level of comfort and rapport with your caregiver, encourage them to establish limits that will keep your client’s privacy and household safety intact. For example, let the client know it’s okay to make areas of their home off-limits to caregivers.
Prepare Pets
Even friendly pets can become unfriendly to a guest or visitor if they sense a threat to their owner. Visiting home care staff can be perceived by a pet as a threat when they are assisting or caring for clients. For everyone’s comfort and safety, insist that all pets are put in a secure area away from caregivers before and during the visit. Keep your in-home caregivers safe from injury from pet bites, tripping, and allergic reactions. Explain that safety and a focus on the client are primary concerns for your agency.
Protect Belongings
Provide options and resources to help clients know how to protect their belongings. Suggest they purchase a lockbox instead of giving caregivers a set of keys. The client can place it outside their home with keys inside, allowing the caregiver to type in a code to retrieve them. Suggest that the client store valuables in a safe and keep copies of important documents in a safe place.
The Art of Empathy
Encourage your clients to share their cultural and religious preferences with your agency and caregivers. Clients will come from different backgrounds, and it is important to understand certain aspects about the way they live so you can provide the best care possible. Axxess Home Care gives agencies the ability to enter client preference information and other specifics so that the most suitable caregiver can be matched to each client.
Make sure your initial interactions with the client are warm and positive so that they can sense your underlying compassion. Always respect that it is a privilege to be invited into a client’s home to care for them. With the right preparation and the best home care software, you can ensure that your clients receive exceptional quality care.
