Many families start a search with a long list of needs and end up with a short list of jobs that take real time. Those jobs are usually errands: the mail, the bank, the laundry, the ride to an appointment of any kind, and the forms that pile up on the kitchen table. Errands are the jobs that tend to fall through when a week gets busy.
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.
Start by writing down every errand the household runs in a normal week. Then do three things with each one:
- Sort it into one of three columns: the family keeps it, an aide takes it, or it is shared.
- Mark the day and the hour it happens now.
- Note any errand that needs the client to come along, because an aide cannot be in two places at once.
Test the split for two weeks before you hire. Run the household the way the split says. Note which jobs slipped, which family member was stuck, and which errand nobody claimed. This test shows what a visiting aide would actually need to pick up. Desk note: this is an editorial method, not a file record.
Questions to ask the agency about errands
- Will the aide drive the client's car, and does the agency allow it?
- Who covers fuel and parking on an errand, and is that written down?
- Can the aide carry out a task from a written list the family leaves, and what happens if the task cannot be finished in the visit?
- What happens if an errand runs past the end of the booked visit?
Editorial note: the aide's job list should match the agreement word for word. If the family asks for mail and rides and the paper says light household help, the gap will show up in the first week. Put the errand list into the service plan so the paper and the household agree.