Hiring a caregiver is a decision that significantly impacts your elderly loved one and the wider family dynamic. On the one hand, you want someone who is competent and well-qualified. On the other hand, having someone who cares about your senior loved one is vital as well. It’s like meeting a potential new family member who will instantly become an important part of your life.
A reputable home care company will send you caregivers who have undergone a strict and detailed interview and hiring process. Still, it’s perfectly understandable and expected that you’ll have a lot of questions to ask yourself.
This guide from Village Caregiving covers some fundamental questions to ask a prospective caregiver, giving you peace of mind that your loved one will be in good hands.
Why Asking the Right Questions Matters
With the number of elderly people in the U.S. and the associated age-related health issues continuing to rise — and predicted to triple by 2060 — more people need family caregivers to help them with an elderly loved one.
There are many qualified caregivers out there who can deliver professional, compassionate care to an elderly loved one. But while it’s very important to see those credentials in place, finding the perfect caregiver for your loved one will involve many other considerations beyond that.
Asking the right questions can help you match your loved one with the ideal caregiver — one who matches their personality, preferences and overall expectations. Learning as much as you can about a potential caregiver at the interview stage can help determine:
- If they are sufficiently qualified to assist your elderly loved one.
- If they can help with any specific health care conditions your loved one may have.
- Whether your elderly loved one and caregiver are a good match, personality-wise.
- How flexible the caregiver can be regarding your specific care needs.
- How passionate the caregiver is about their job.
To get the most out of each question, you can separate them into sections based on what matters most to you in choosing a caregiver. The questions below are divided into four areas that can help ensure you’re finding the right fit for your wants and needs.
1. Personality and Lifestyle Questions
Caregiver interview questions tend to focus on experience and capabilities. This is understandable as we only want good care for our loved ones. But knowing more about the potential caregiver on a personal level is just as important. It can make a big difference in finding someone compatible with your senior relative.
What Are Your Hobbies?
The relationship a caregiver has with the person they look after should always be built on some form of trust and common ground. Asking a caregiver what their hobbies are invites a naturally flowing conversation that focuses on something they are passionate about.
It may even lead to finding out that your loved one and the caregiver share some mutual interests. For example, if your loved one has a passion for music or film and the potential new caregiver does too, it’s an opportunity to bond and make your loved one feel like they’ve made a new friend. Or, perhaps it could even lead to them finding a new hobby they enjoy to keep their mind sharp and agile.
Studies have shown that participating in activities as you age, whether mental or physical, can have significant health and well-being benefits.
Do You Enjoy Cooking?
A healthy diet is an important part of any care relationship, especially if dietary needs need to be considered. A balanced and nutritious meal plan offers many benefits for seniors. Additionally, asking questions about meal planning and preparation provides a strong insight into the caregiver’s opinions and relationship with food.
If an elderly loved one needs help with meal preparation, it’s good to know that your potential new caregiver enjoys this part of their role. Even if you aren’t currently looking for a caregiver who cooks for your senior loved one, it can help to gauge their cooking skills for the future, especially if you’re looking to have someone come in on a long-term basis.
This question can also help you learn more about how the caregiver feels about food and nutrition. For elders who love to cook and enjoy doing so with others, it could be a potential way for them both to bond quickly by doing something together in the kitchen.
Do You Like to Talk and Have Deep Conversations?
Your loved one may prefer a quiet and polite caregiver. Or, perhaps they’re outgoing and like the idea of having conversations about their life and experiences over the years. There’s no wrong answer here, as most caregivers can adapt as required, but it’s a good indicator of who will be a cherished companion full of conversation.
This can be an important part of care during the relationship in years to come, especially if your loved one is processing difficult things like coping with grief and loss or experiencing loneliness.
What Inspired You to Become a Caregiver?
While a reputable home care agency will ask candidates several questions like this before they’re considered, the response you receive offers a lot of perspective on why someone has dedicated their life to helping others. After all, you want to hire someone who is sincere about looking after your loved one.
You may even discover more about their life story before they got to where they are today. This can be a great way to develop trust and mutual understanding at the beginning of a potential working relationship.
2. Skills and Specialisms Questions
Finding the right caregiver for an elderly loved one can be a difficult process. But having questions ready about their level of skills and what specialties they may excel in can help reduce worries and offer proof of a reputable caregiver and agency.
What Areas of Care Do You Specialize In?
A good agency will have fully qualified caregivers for you to consider hiring, but you may have special care requirements for your loved one that need a little extra attention. For example, an elderly person with Alzheimer’s or dementia may require advanced and specialized support.
Confirming that a potential new hire has qualifications and experience in these specialty areas will give you and your family more peace of mind in the future.
How Do You Deal With Emergencies and Stressful Situations?
Patience, understanding and a clear head in a difficult situation are important things to think about when hiring a caregiver. Asking the caregiver what they’d do in the event of a stressful situation or emergency scenario, like the following examples, offers you an idea of what action they’d take:
- Sudden fall or trip
- Stroke or heart attack
- Abrupt mood swing
- Lack of cooperation from your loved one
- Depressive episode and refusal to eat
Do You Seek out or Receive Regular Training in Your Role?
Having a positive attitude toward gaining the most up-to-date training says a lot about a caregiver’s passion for their role — and the quality of the care agency that provides it. Some potential areas of care that may require regular, updated training include:
- Emergency handling
- Housekeeping
- Oral hygiene and bathing
- Incontinence and toileting
- Bed positioning and skin care
- Cooking and meal assistance
- Neglect and abuse awareness
What Is Your First-Aid Accreditation?
While this may come up in your questions about regular training, it’s important to get absolute clarity on the specifics of any first-aid accreditations. The ability to react well to unexpected situations, and apply first aid if and when required, can make a big difference.
3. Care Planning and Communications Questions
The way a potential caregiver does their job tells you a lot about the care agency they represent, and how much detail they put into their role. Questions about some day-to-day and long-term planning methods are good indicators of how meticulous and detail-oriented a caregiver may be.
How Regularly Do You Update a Written Care Plan?
Care plans are never really “finished.” They need to be updated when needed to work effectively. A strong care plan is flexible and can adapt to the changing needs of your elderly loved ones. As a general rule, if the caregiver you’re talking to doesn’t reply with an answer that highlights the importance of regularly updating a written care plan, the agency that they represent may not consider it a priority either.
For people with elderly loved ones who need a wide range of care support, having a comprehensive care plan that can also change to reflect their needs is a big part of ensuring a smooth care experience.
How Do You Prefer to Communicate With Your Client’s Family Members?
A healthy relationship between a client and a care agency will include a lot of communication. Asking a potential caregiver or care agency how they prefer to communicate can speak volumes about how much they prioritize it. Having an open, transparent dialogue is extremely important, but so is the respect and privacy of your loved ones.
Understanding how and when caregivers or agencies plan to keep you informed reduces miscommunication or assumptions. For family members who live far away from an elderly loved one receiving home-based care, receiving regular updates can be a huge relief.
How Do You Record What You’ve Done During a Care Visit?
This question can be very revealing when hiring a potential caregiver. After all, communication isn’t just about a call or a face-to-face chat. How will they express what they’ve done in documentation? How organized are they with recordkeeping? Do they understand the importance of keeping logs of any meals, medication times or changes in health?
Even the smallest oversight can make a huge difference to a loved one’s well-being. So, understanding how they plan to document and share information with those who need it is crucial.
4. General Questions for Caregivers or Care Agencies
A caregiver who is qualified, passionate and positive about making a difference is a big asset to any family. Not only can they help keep an elderly loved one feeling independent and valued, but they can also help reduce loneliness and social isolation in seniors.
As final confirmation that a caregiver or the care agency that sent them may be the right fit for you, consider asking the following questions:
- What happens when sickness affects a scheduled visit?
- Do you have any type of insurance? What does it cover?
- Who are you or your agency regulated by?
- How will the keys to my loved one’s home be kept safe?
- Can flexible working hours be accommodated?
- Why have you paired this caregiver with my loved one/why do you want to be paired with my loved one?
Using Caregiver Interview Questions to Make Your Choice
The answers to these questions, whether from an in-person chat with a caregiver or an agency finding you the right fit, can give you the necessary information to make a choice. It’s a foundation that combines moral decision-making, qualifications and care for other human beings to make sure your chosen caregiver understands how important your loved ones are.
It’s extremely rewarding to connect your senior loved one with a caregiver who takes pride in understanding their emotional and physical needs. But it’s also a big responsibility that requires time, compassion and attention to detail. Once you’ve found the ideal match, you’ll be secure in the knowledge that you’ve done all you can to make sure the remaining years of your elderly loved ones are enjoyable and not a challenge.
The most important thing is that you find someone who appreciates the dignity and care needs of others. By using the questions above as a reference point and working with a reputable caregiving agency, you’ll find someone who makes your loved one feel like they’ve made a new dear friend.
Recent Comments