Live-in Caregivers FAQs

January 20, 2022

Live-in Home Care & Live-in Caregivers FAQs

What is live-in home care?

Live-in home care is where a person known as a caregiver lives in the same home as a person that requires a significant amount of help with day-to-day tasks. In most cases, individuals that require a live-in caregiver are either elderly, seniors or individuals that are disabled in a way that hinders their ability to live comfortably without the help of a live-in caregiver.

What kind of services does a live-in caregiver provide?

All live-in caregivers are not the same. Some live-in home care providers have an established list of activities, chores and duties that their caregivers have to adhere to. At Compassionate Care, we take a more unique and flexible approach when it comes to live-in home care. Our live-in caregivers do whatever it takes and whatever is necessary to ensure that the senior or disabled person they are providing home care services to can live comfortably. Below is a list of just some of the types of services that the live-in caregivers at Compassionate Care provide. This is not a complete comprehensive list of live-in home care services. This is only a list of some of the more common services our live-in caregivers provide.

• Bathroom Help: Our live-in home care workers will help with everything from getting to and from the toilet to even helping with bed pans, or adult diapers for situations that require it.
• Bathing: It’s not uncommon for seniors or disabled individuals to require help with taking a bath or a shower safely. Sometimes just the process of getting into and out of a bathtub can be a difficult and sometimes potentially dangerous activity for individuals with mobility issues caused by either age or some kind of disability. Live-in caregivers from Compassionate Care provide help for everything hygiene related including help in and out of the bathtub, the actual bathing process itself, and in more extreme cases where it’s not possible to get the individual into a shower or bathtub our live-in caregivers will do regular sponge baths.
• Meal planning and preparation: As people get older or become hindered with one or more disabilities, something as simple as preparing a meal can be difficult or in more extreme cases impossible. In addition to having difficulty with preparing food, it also becomes more difficult to prepare a proper meal with healthier foods since seniors and disabled individuals are limited to meals that are “quick” and “easy”. All of the live-in caregivers at Compassionate CT will help with proper meal planning as well as the actual preparation of multiple meals a day. They work closely with the hosts to ensure that the meals are not only healthy, but also something they will enjoy to eat as opposed to being forced to eat.
• General housekeeping: The live-in home caregivers at Compassionate Care are up to the task of handling everything housekeeping related. This includes making sure the host has clean and fresh bedding, doing the host’s laundry, and maintaining a clean and safe home environment. From normal people, keeping your house clean and clutter free can be difficult but for a senior or an individual with a disability it can be impossible which is one of the leading reasons they are forced to leave their homes and move into a facility. Compassionate Care’s live-in home care services and caregivers make it possible for elderly and disabled individuals to continue living in their home by helping to keep it a clean and safe.
• Rides: We have all been stuck behind that car doing 20 mph less than the speed limit on the highway. As we get older, our eye sight declines and our reflexes slow down so driving becomes dangerous to ourselves as well as to everyone around us. Not being able to drive does not mean that there are not options to get to and from the store or doctor’s appointment, but ride share services can be costly and unreliable. At Compassionate Care, our live-in caregivers provide rides for their hosts so that they no longer have to worry about how they are going to get to the store or make it to a doctor’s appointment on time. By being able to provide rides, our live-in caregivers provide the ability to make doctor appointments on time, go grocery shopping, visit friends and other social events and most importantly keep another person from being on the road driving when they shouldn’t.
• Companionship: Often overlooked but definitely one of the most important reasons for having a live-in care giver is companionship. Humans are not meant to live alone. Since the earliest days of recorded history, humans have always been dependent upon social interaction which is why it’s so important to a person’s mental health to not be alone. At Compassionate Care we understand the importance of not only having a properly trained and qualified live-in caregivers, but we also put the extra time and effort into making sure that the caregiver we assign to a person in need of our live-in home care services is a perfect match allowing for socialization, conversations, friendship, and companionship.

How much does it cost for a live-in caregiver?

The cost of a live-in caregiver is going to vary from situation to situation based on a number of variables. Some of the variables include the physical location of the individual requiring the care, the physical condition of the person requiring the care and special needs that need to be taken care of by the caregiver. A caregiver living in Guilford CT will be a bit more expensive than a caregiver in Middletown CT due to the cost-of-living difference between those two areas. Seniors or disabled individuals that require more extensive care will also cost more than individuals that are more capable and require less hands-on care. In cases where an individual requires any kind of specialty care like an individual with autism or dementia, the cost will be a bit higher as well.

Does Insurance cover the cost of live-in home care?

Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans frequently do not cover in-home non-medical medical care that is provided by a live-in home care provider or live-in caregiver. In addition most private insurance companies will not pay for non-medical home care services. Therefore any costs associated with a live-in home caregiver so the client or the family of the client is usually responsible for the costs. There is however a program that allows adult children and relatives of a senior or disabled individuals to get paid for providing live-in home care. Should you be interested in this program please call our office and we will answer any questions you may have.

Compassionate Care will be doing a future blog article with details about how this works. If you are interested in learning more about how you can take advantage of being paid to be a live-in caregiver for an elderly or senior.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can take advantage of being paid to be a live-in caregiver for an elderly or senior please give us a call at 203 433-4325 and let us assist you with all your live-in home care questions and needs.

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