Continuity is a question you can put to every agency in the same words. Agencies differ in how they pair an aide with a household, how they handle time off, and how they tell a family about a change. Write the answers down as paper and compare the paper, not your memory of a phone call.
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.
Ask how the pairing is made
Ask who decides which aide is sent to a house, and what the agency weighs when it chooses, such as the scheduled hours, the location, or the tasks on the written plan. Ask whether the family can request a particular aide or turn one down. Note whether the answer names a role, such as a scheduler, or a specific person, and note who will be the family's contact for that choice.
Ask how often the same person returns
A regular schedule often rotates among a small group of aides across the week. Ask how many different aides a typical week is likely to bring, and whether the agency keeps a named team for each house. Do not accept a phrase like always the same person until you have asked what happens during time off, a holiday, or a shift the agency has to fill on short notice.
Ask how a replacement is introduced
Ask how the agency tells the family when the planned aide cannot come, how much notice it gives, and who makes the replacement choice. Ask whether the replacement is introduced before the visit and whether the family receives the replacement's name in writing. An introduction at the door is a different arrangement from one made by phone the day before, and the paper should say which one the agency uses.
Put the answers on one page each
Make one page for each agency with the same questions in the same order. Beside each question, mark whether the answer came in writing, by phone, or not at all. An answer you never received in writing stays an open item until someone puts it on paper. When two agencies answer the same question differently, write the difference in a plain sentence so you can see it at a glance.
Confirm the agency before you rely on its answers
Continuity answers describe how an agency plans to work. They do not confirm that the agency is registered or that its records are in order. Before you rely on any answer, match the agency's name and address against the public files. How to check any home health agency lists the federal lookups to run in order. If the agency offers only non-medical help at home, check which record applies first, using home health versus non-medical home care.