Finding the right licensed home care agency

Sometimes it can become quite difficult to figure out what to do when it is time to get home care services for someone you love. It becomes increasingly more challenging when it is your very first time. Your mind will be running 100 miles per hour in all directions with no signs of it ever coming to an end. Looking for home care services becomes even worse when your loved one is not willing to accept services. So how can one handle such a situation?

At First Care of New York we hear these horror stories all the time. So we have decided to inform you of the home care process.

Follow these simple rules:

1. If your loved one is reluctant to accept care:
   
1. Have a calm dialogue with them
   
2. Be open and honest
   
3. Express all the value of independent living (with home care)

Note:  If one of the parties becomes upset take a break, regroup another time.

2. Select what setting you would like for your loved one to be cared for:
   
   1. Nursing home
      
   2. Home care
      
   3. Assisted living Facility

Note:  When selecting which type of care, you must realize that anything other than the home environment is usually very disturbing to the individual that needs the care and more costly.

3. Arrange for how the care will be paid for:
   
   1. Government program
      
   2. Private Insurance
      
   3. Self pay – out of pocket

Note:  Consider the short term and/or long term possibilities of having to provide coverage.

4. Gather some questions to ask the home care agency:
   
   1. Ask if the agency if they are accredited, licensed, bonded and insured
   2. Inquire about the different types of care that the home care agency can provide
      
   3. Find out how does the company screen the care providers

Note:  Be as clear as possible and make sure you get the home care services you requested.

Granted this is just a Blog and not all questions can be fully answered or explained here; therefore, the best thing to do is pick up the phone and give First Care of New York a call. With our kind and courteous staff, we would be able to answer all of your questions, comments and concerns. At First Care of New York we provide services in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. For your convenience, a nurse can be scheduled to visit you or your loved one at your home to evaluate the level of care that is needed at no cost to you, as long as they participate in our program. The nurse will also be able to evaluate the home to be aware of any potential hazards that might cause harm to your loved one. We can provide as much care as is needed from a couple of hours a week to 24 hour live-in care and everything in between. We have highly trained home health aides, personal care aides, homemakers, and nursing care. We help with bathing, cooking, toileting, grooming, medication reminders, laundry, cleaning services and even help with errands and escorting to/from doctors’ appointments. First Care is a licensed home care service agency that provides top quality aides to all of our clients.