Most sizing questions ask how many hours and which tasks. A St. Louis house adds one more question: what the building does to a person who sits in it all day. Heat and cold change how long a task takes, how often a caregiver needs a break, and whether your parent will stay in the room where the work happens. Size the shift to the house you have, not the house in your head.

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: Find the climate controls

  1. Write down where the thermostat is and which rooms it actually reaches. Note any room with its own window unit, space heater, or no control at all.
  2. Write down which rooms your parent uses in a normal day. Sitting room: ____ Kitchen: ____ Bedroom: ____ Bathroom: ____
  3. Stand in your parent's usual chair at two times of day: mid-afternoon in summer and early morning in winter. Write down the temperature you feel and whether a fan or blanket fixes it.

Step 2: Turn the house into hours

  1. If the only usable cooling is in one room, the caregiver's work will cluster there. Ask how they handle a shift when your parent moves between rooms.
  2. If the furnace or cooling unit sits in a basement or attic, write down the walking time from the room where your parent sits. Add that time to every shift that includes a room reset.
  3. Decide who acts when the system fails. Write the name and number here: ____

What to ask before you compare quotes

  • Does the caregiver expect to set the temperature, or does that decision stay with the family?
  • If your parent refuses a fan, a blanket, or a move to another room, what does the caregiver do and whom do they call?
  • Does the shift length change during a heat wave or a cold snap? Get the answer in writing before you agree to a number.

Walk away if

  • The answer to the heat or cold question is that it never comes up.
  • The caregiver expects to work in a room your parent cannot comfortably stay in.

Keep this sheet with your hiring notes. The question is not whether the house is comfortable on a mild day but whether it stays workable on the worst one. For the steps in order, read Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring.