Many families start with the agency's schedule and work backward to the house. It works better in the other direction. Before asking for a visit length, count what the house asks for on an ordinary day, then match the visit to that count. This is a sizing guide for a family that has a real decision to make and wants a plan that fits its own home.
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.
Count the rooms in use. List every room the aide will enter during a visit. Mark the rooms used every day by the person being cared for, the rooms used only some days, and any rooms that stay closed. A home where the person spends the day in one room needs a different visit than a home where the aide moves through three or four rooms. Write the count at the top of the page so it stays in view.
Count the tasks, not the hours. Take the task sheet the family already has, or draft one, and list each task with its room and how often it happens. Keep to ordinary household work such as meals, tidying the rooms in use, laundry if the agreement covers it, and errands if they are part of the plan. A task that does not appear on paper will not be in the visit length.
Count the people who rely on the visit. Write down everyone in the home who will depend on the aide during the visit, not only the person being cared for. A household with a child in another room, or an adult who works from home during the visit, carries a different load from a household where one person is alone. The extra people change the count even when they never ask for help.
Compare the count with the agency's blocks. With rooms, tasks, and people written down, ask the agency whether its shortest visit covers that work. Ask what happens when a task runs over, whether extra time is added or the task moves to the next visit, and how the agency records the change. Write each answer beside the count so the two can be compared on one page.
Check the fit after two weeks. A sized plan is a guess until it runs. After about two weeks, compare the written count with what actually happened: tasks left undone, rooms the aide did not reach, and visits that ended early. Change the count on paper, then take the revised count to the agency in writing.