Before you decide whether to hire in-home help or keep doing the work yourself, look at the errands. Many families find that errands, not personal care, are what eats the family's time. This guide helps you sort the list and decide what to keep, what to hand off, and what to split.
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.
Step 1: List every errand for a full month
Include groceries, pharmacy pickups, mail, trash, bill payments, appointment rides, and small repairs. Write each one on its own line, even if it takes five minutes.
Write here: ______________________
Step 2: Mark each errand as family, caregiver, or split
Family means you keep it. Caregiver means it moves to the shift. Split means part is done by each. Mark every line before you decide anything else.
Step 3: Check what a caregiver may take on
A hired or in-home non-medical caregiver may pick up a prescription as an errand and may give medication reminders. Medicine decisions and the medicine supply stay with the family, the doctor, and the pharmacist. Write that split on your sheet so the job description matches it.
Step 4: Keep money and account access out of the default
Bill payments, bank cards, and online account logins are a separate decision. If you let anyone pay bills, write the exact limit on paper, including which accounts, which amounts, and who approves. Without that, the task can drift.
Step 5: Count the hours each errand takes
Add the minutes for every errand marked caregiver or split, including the drive. Write the total per week. If the errands fill most of a shift, you are buying a driver and a helper at once, and the agreement should say so.
Write here: Errand hours per week: ____
Step 6: Put the list into the written scope
Attach the final errand list to the agreement, with receipts returned to the family and any cash handled under a stated rule. An errand that is not on the paper is not part of the job.
What to listen for
A good answer accepts a written errand list, names how receipts come back, and agrees to a limit on spending. A weak answer says the caregiver will help with whatever is needed.
Signs to walk away
Walk away from any arrangement where a caregiver wants bank cards or full account access with no written limit, or where the provider will not put the errand list in writing. To compare agency and direct arrangements for the same tasks, see Hire a Caregiver in St. Louis: Agency or Direct.