Sooner or later someone will need to reach the caregiver. A late bus. A question about the door. A change in the afternoon plan. If the rules for that contact are not set before the first shift, each caregiver will settle it their own way, and the family finds out after the fact.

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.

Questions to put to the agency

  • Can the family call or text the assigned caregiver directly, or must every message go through the office?
  • Do caregivers use their own phones for work, or company phones?
  • What is the rule for contact outside booked hours?
  • Are messages between the family and the caregiver logged, and who can read the log?
  • What is the rule on photos or video taken inside the home?
  • If the assigned caregiver leaves, how do the family's messages and contact details move to the next person?

What a good answer covers

A workable answer names the contact route for each kind of problem. A late arrival is one route. A schedule change is another. A concern about how the family member is doing goes to the agency office, and health questions go to the family's doctor. The answer should also say whether the family may call during a shift, and what the caregiver does if they cannot answer.

Red flags in the answers

  • We will handle it as it comes up. That is not a rule. Write down that you heard it.
  • All family messages route through one employee's personal phone. When that person leaves, the messages leave with them.
  • No written policy exists. Ask for one, and watch how long it takes to arrive.

Put the rules on paper

Write the agreed rules into the service agreement or a one-page message sheet. Keep a copy at the house. Show the sheet to the caregiver on the first shift and confirm they have read it. If the agency will not put a rule in writing, that refusal is your answer. Record it as a finding, the same way this desk records silence on money. For how this desk reads plain answers, see How We Rate.