Every photo of your parent's kitchen, doorway, or bedroom is information about your family. So is the alarm code, the key location, the visit schedule, and any note that describes the house. Before anyone starts, ask in writing what a caregiver may share, and with whom.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

What the agency should be able to answer

  • May a caregiver take photos during a shift? If yes, for what purpose, and where do the files go?
  • May a caregiver post anything about your home, your parent, or a visit on a social site, a group chat, or a messaging app?
  • Who inside the agency can see your visit notes, and who outside it can see them?
  • Does the agency keep photos or notes in a shared app or cloud account, and who holds the login?
  • What happens to those files when the arrangement ends?
  • Will the privacy terms appear in the agreement itself, not only in a handbook you cannot see?
  • What is the step if a caregiver breaks the rule, and who tells you?

What to check on the website

Look for a privacy notice or a confidentiality statement that names what the agency collects and keeps. If the agency publishes nothing on the subject, write that down as a finding. Silence on a privacy question is an answer, and it belongs on your sheet beside the agencies that say nothing about their fees.

What to do with the answers

Put each answer in the same column on your side-by-side sheet. A vague answer is not a yes. Ask for the exact wording, then read it against your own house rules: no posting about the home, no photos of the alarm panel or the key spot, no sharing of the code, and no visit notes sent outside the agency. If you cannot get the wording in writing, that is your decision point.

Write your own house rules before the first shift, and hand them over with the house sheet. A caregiver can follow a rule you have written down. A rule that lives only in your head will be broken by accident.