When it comes time to hire a senior care provider for your elderly loved one, your family may feel overwhelmed by the many options that are available to you. Upstate South Carolina’s aging population has created a growing need for home care providers, and you may find that choosing the right caregiver for your senior is a difficult task. But the truth is that you can find a professional who will take excellent care of your loved one. By taking the following pieces of in- formation into consideration, you and the rest of your family can identify and hire the caregiver who will best see to your senior’s safety, security, and health.
The Growing Need for Elder Care:
Statistically speaking, the population of the United States is aging, meaning that seniors both across the country and right here in South Carolina are increasingly calling upon the assistance of elder care providers. Hiring a home care professional can result in both practical and emotional benefits to your family, including:
• You can see to it that your elderly loved one has access to the assistance that they need without having to quit your job or create complex care schedules that call upon the help of friends and family members.
• A senior care professional can alleviate the emotional stress that is felt by both parents and their children when parents age. The role reversal that takes place when it comes time for children to care for their aging parents is not always easy to accept by either party. As such, calling in a home care professional can alleviate this tension and allow family members to avoid many of the strong emotional responses to this situation that can cause them stress.
• Family members who have their own children to care for often must sacrifice a great deal to take care of their elderly loved one, too. For this reason, bringing on a senior care provider is a great way to ensure that family members, including their children, do not have to compromise their own responsibilities in order to provide the care that their seniors need.
Locating a Qualified, Reliable Elder Care Professional:
Choosing a caregiver is not an easy task because it is a decision of great importance meaning that you and your family members will probably feel a great deal of pressure to get it right. To avoid feeling overwhelmed by this responsibility, it is a good idea to take an organized approach. First and foremost, ask friends and other family members if they have any personal experience with home care providers. If so, they can either offer you a recommendation or encourage you to steer clear of a certain professional or agency.
If you don’t have any referrals upon which to call, it is always a good idea to partner with a professional organization in your area. Choose a local business that employs its caregivers, rather than retaining them on a contractual basis, and that requires them to be properly certified, licensed, and insured. Additionally, make certain that all of the background checks and other necessary safety measures have been performed on the professional that you ultimately choose.
When choosing a caregiver for your loved one, it is important to also consider the input of your senior if possible. Companionship is an important element of senior care, so it is a good idea to make sure that your loved one enjoys spending time with the professional that your family chooses. Hiring an elder care provider can be a daunting task, but with the right approach you can certainly choose a caregiver who will provide the compassion, security, and safety that your loved one needs.
By Toni L. Edge, CRCFA Transitional Care Coordinator Always Best Care Senior Services 
