A caregiver can arrive on time and still lose part of the shift looking for gloves, clean towels, trash bags, laundry soap, or the notebook used for household instructions. Fix that before the schedule settles into a routine. One person should own the supply list, the refill decision, and the place where shortages are reported.
1. Name the supply owner
Choose one family member who can receive messages and arrange replacements. This person does not have to live in the house. Do not divide ownership among everyone who visits. Shared responsibility makes it easy for each person to assume someone else handled the request.
Write down:
Supply owner: ____________________
Best phone number: ____________________
Backup person: ____________________
When caregivers should expect a reply: ____________________
Give this information to the agency contact or independent caregiver in writing. The site's five-step hiring sheet is useful if other parts of the job still need to be put into one written plan.
2. List only items used during the agreed work
Walk through one ordinary shift. Start with the tasks the caregiver has agreed to perform, then list the household items needed for those tasks. Do not copy a generic supply checklist. A list built around work that is not actually assigned creates confusion about the job.
Use plain descriptions that another person can recognize:
Task: ____________________
Item needed: ____________________
Where it is stored: ____________________
Acceptable substitute, if any: ____________________
Repeat those four lines for meal preparation, laundry, light housekeeping, personal assistance, errands, or any other agreed task. If an item requires special instructions, put those instructions with the item instead of relying on a phone explanation.
3. Separate household supplies from personal property
Mark which items are available for caregiver use and which are not. This is especially important when similar products sit together or when a family member brings supplies from another house.
Ask: "Which supplies do you expect the caregiver to use during this shift?"
Listen for an answer that names the item and its location. "Whatever is around" is not a usable instruction.
Write down:
For caregiver use: ____________________
Not for caregiver use: ____________________
Ask before using: ____________________
4. Choose one storage point
Keep routine supplies in one labeled cabinet, shelf, cart, or bin when practical. The location should be easy to describe over the phone and easy for a substitute caregiver to find.
Test the description with someone who did not organize the house. Say, "Show me where you would look for a clean towel and a new trash bag." If that person opens several doors or asks which floor, make the description more exact.
Write the location as a route:
Enter through: ____________________
Go to: ____________________
Open: ____________________
Look on: ____________________
Do not place access codes, financial papers, medication records, or spare house keys on the supply sheet.
5. Set a refill point for each item
"Tell me when it is almost gone" means something different to each person. Give the caregiver a visible point at which to report the item.
Examples include one unopened package remaining, the final roll moved into use, or the refill bottle reaching a marked line. Choose a point that gives the supply owner enough time to act before the item is gone.
Write down:
Item: ____________________
Report when: ____________________
Usual replacement location: ____________________
Do not ask the caregiver to buy replacements unless purchasing supplies is part of the written arrangement. If it is, write down who approves the purchase, what proof of purchase is required, and how unused money or a payment card is handled.
6. Use one shortage report
Pick one reporting route: a notebook in the house, a text to the supply owner, or the provider's established message system. Do not scatter requests among voicemail, group texts, loose notes, and conversations with different relatives.
Require four details:
Item: ____________________
Amount remaining: ____________________
Needed before which shift: ____________________
Reported to: ____________________
Ask the agency or caregiver: "If a worker reports a shortage to your office, who tells our supply owner?" Write down the name, role, or phone route given in the answer.
Walk away from any arrangement that requires a caregiver to improvise with an unsuitable item, perform work without agreed supplies, or spend personal money with no written approval and repayment process.
7. Close every request
The supply owner should mark each request as obtained, placed in the house, or no longer needed. Buying the item is not the final step. Someone must put it in the agreed storage location and tell the caregiver it is ready.
Use a short record:
Requested item: ____________________
Replacement obtained: ____________________
Placed at: ____________________
Caregiver notified: ____________________
If the same item repeatedly runs out, change the refill point or the amount kept in the house. Do not keep solving the same shortage with emergency phone calls.
8. Check the system after real shifts
Ask the caregiver three questions after the arrangement has been used:
"What did you have to search for?"
"What was lower than you expected?"
"Which instruction was unclear?"
Write down the answers and change the storage label, refill point, or reporting route. Keep the review limited to supplies and access to them. Questions about duties, screening, supervision, or whether to use an agency belong in the broader comparison process described in Agency or Direct.
The finished sheet
Before leaving the house, confirm that the sheet identifies one owner, one backup, the supplies connected to agreed tasks, their exact storage location, each refill point, and one reporting route. Keep a copy where the caregiver can use it and a copy with the supply owner.
For the public materials used to build this site's hiring sheets, see the Sources page. For the site's rules on separating documented facts from practical field instructions, see How We Write the Sheets.