Home Care Services

When it comes to providing home health care for elderly adults, families often choose one of three solutions.  They either have a family member act as an informal caregiver, hire a caregiver themselves, or work with a home health agency to find a caregiver.  At Assisting Hands, we provide home health care and elderly services to help senior citizens and adults with disabilities.  We employ professional caregivers who are bonded, insured, and highly trained, and we put them through an intense screening process to make sure we hire caregivers who will treat our clients with compassion and respect. Assisting Hands provides the following home care services in Chicago suburbs & Wisconsin:

• Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care: Our caregivers are trained and experienced to provide the quality care your senior loved one needs if they suffer from Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. We can help prevent dangerous wandering and engage them in memory care exercises to slow the progression of dementia.
• Post-Operative Care: If the patient is coming home from the hospital, our caregivers can help by monitoring their situation and managing their medication. We can also help around the house by handling meal preparation and light housekeeping.
• Respite Care: If you already have a family caregiver who needs additional assistance, Assisting Hands Home Care can step in to allow the family caregiver some personal time to attend to their personal matters. We will create a schedule for the caregiver to come and relieve the family caregiver.
• Overnight Care: If it’s not safe for your elderly loved one to be home alone at night, our overnight care services can help. We will arrive in the evening to help your loved ones get ready for bed and monitor them to provide assistance if needed.
• Live-In Care: If your loved one needs care around the clock, we can provide live-in care services. Live-in caregivers live at the home so they can provide assistance 24/7, but they do sleep during the night shift.
• 24 Hour Care: Our 24-hour care services are ideal for seniors who require 24 hours of attentive care. We will have 2-3 caregivers in your home so that there is always a caregiver awake and on shift.

Assistance with daily activities includes but is not limited to:

• Personal Assistance: We can help seniors and people with disabilities with daily activities that include restroom use, bathing, dressing, incontinence, and other personal hygiene activities.
• Meal Preparation: We can prepare nutritious meals daily and help those who need assistance eating.
• Errands and Transportation: We can run various errands including trips to the grocery store and provide transportation to get our clients to appointments, family gatherings, and religious services.
• Light Housekeeping: We will handle light housekeeping tasks such as dusting, cleaning, vacuuming, dishes, and laundry to help keep the home clean and organized.
• Companionship: Our caregivers are more than just care providers, they can be excellent companions for your loved one. We will engage in conversation and fun activities to build a personal relationship with our clients.

Working with a Home Care Agency and Caregivers

Families looking to provide in home health care for their loved ones may choose any of the three options discussed above for various reasons.  Designating a family member as an informal caregiver is the most cost-effective option, but being a full-time caregiver for a family member can be overwhelming and a strain on your personal life.  Independent caregivers are less expensive than a home care agency, but you are responsible for things like payroll, insurance, and discipline as the caregiver’s employer.  Home care agencies assign a caregiver for your loved one who is employed and trained through the agency. If you work with a home care agency such as Assisting Hands, you can expect the following benefits:

• Licensed, bonded, and insured caregivers who are employed by the agency and can file for worker’s compensation through their employer. Independent caregivers are uninsured which leaves you responsible if a caregiver is hurt on the job.
• If your regular caregiver calls in sick, another caregiver will be provided by the home care agency. You must find your own replacement if an independent caregiver calls in sick.
• Caregivers from a home care agency are trained and disciplined by their employer. You are responsible for training or confirming the experience of independent caregivers, and you are also responsible for discipline up to and including termination.
• It is your responsibility to evaluate the skills of an independent caregiver. A home care agency will send you a caregiver who meets their high expectations.
• You are responsible for ensuring that your independent caregivers have legal status to work in the U.S., and for filing taxes regarding the payment of your caregiver.

If you have an elderly family member that is choosing to age in place, but needs daily assistance, talk to the professionals at Assisting Hands about our home care services in Chicago suburbs & Wisconsin.  Our caregivers are extensively trained and carefully screened so you can rest assured that your loved one will not only have excellent care, but good company as well.