Live-in care is an important method of supporting your loved one at home. A professional care assistant, like our care experts at Bluebird Care Bournemouth and Poole, can ensure their needs are met with 24-hour care and help them feel more comfortable and secure.
But how can you find the right live-in care provider? With this article, we’ll list a range of key questions you should ask any agency before choosing them to support your loved one. With these questions, you can make sure you are getting the right care.
For personalised advice, contact our team at Bluebird Care Bournemouth and Poole today.
1. Qualifications of Your Care Assistant
Before you get too deep into the care process, it's important to ensure your care provider has the experience and qualifications to support your loved one. Always remember to ask what official qualifications and training your potential provider requires its care experts to have.
Are they experienced and trained in supporting specific conditions? Can they care for people living with dementia or experiencing difficulty with mobility? While these might be a given, some providers and their care workers are more experienced than others. Their level of training and qualifications will likely impact the level of care they can provide as well as how reliable they can be during complex situations or emergencies.
Here are a few more questions you can ask about their qualifications:
- Are your care experts licensed and insured?
- Can you provide testimonials from other customers about the quality of their care?
- How do you address complaints about the quality of care?
- How do you match a care expert to a customer?
- What happens if a care expert is not a good fit for the customer or family?
2. What Level of Live-In Home Care is Provided?
Similarly, it's important to understand the level of support these different agencies can provide. For instance, while most live-in care assistants can provide support with medication management, they are usually not expected to complete cleaning services.
Below we’ve listed several questions you can ask to better understand what you can expect with live-in care:
- Will the live-in care assistant do the shopping for the house?
- Can they take my loved one out?
- How long are their breaks and how often do they take them?
- How is my loved one cared for during a break?
- Can my live-in care expert help with home admin?
- Do live-in care assistants help to coordinate or organise home life?
3. How is Communication Managed?
Being able to communicate effectively with a care worker is one of the most important parts of live-in care. If your care expert or agency does not communicate effectively or consistently you can miss out on important changes to your loved one’s care or life.
Here are several key questions you can ask an agency before choosing them:
- How do you keep families informed about their loved one’s care and progress?
- Are there regular updates or reports provided?
- Who is my primary point of contact for questions and updates?
- How is communication handled in case of an emergency?
- What policies do you have in place for caregiver reporting and documentation?
- What steps do you take to meet the family’s communication preferences and needs?
4. How is Live-In Care Provided in an Emergency?
Whether your loved one is living with a complex condition, mobility issues or other concerns, medical emergencies are something every care expert should be prepared for. Understanding what your care assistant can provide during emergencies can help you feel more prepared as well as help you update your emergency plans.
If you are worried about how an agency may react to an emergency, make sure to ask these questions:
- How are care experts trained for medical emergencies?
- What qualifications do your care experts have to respond to medical emergencies? Do they have a first aid certificate?
- Do you conduct safety assessments of a customer's home?
- What measures do you take to prevent injury or accidents?
- How do you ensure care is still provided in case of a care assistant suddenly becoming unavailable?
- How do you report and document incidents?
- How often do you review and update emergency procedures?
Live-In Care That Puts You First
Organising live-in care can be an overwhelming experience. But knowing what to look for and asking the right questions can help you get started on the right foot.
At Bluebird Care, we prioritise you and your loved one’s needs. If you’re seeking a live-in care agency in Bournemouth, contact us today. Our passionate and dedicated team is always happy to answer any of your questions so that you can feel confident going forward with care.
