The hours you need depend on where your parent spends the day. A two-floor house or a split-level adds walking, carrying, and supervision time that a one-floor layout does not. Size the shift from the floor plan before you ask anyone for a schedule.

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.

Count the house

  1. Sketch the floor plan on one sheet. Mark each floor, each landing, and the route between the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, and the front door.
  2. Write how many floors the parent uses in a normal day: ____. Write whether each staircase has a rail on one side, both sides, or none: ____________________.
  3. Mark where the parent sits, sleeps, and eats. Trace the route between those spots and count how many times a typical day crosses a staircase: ____ times.
  4. Count the carries that go up or down: laundry baskets, groceries, trash bins, and mail. Write the weekly total: ____.
  5. Mark every door that is narrow, heavy, or latches from the outside. Write how many: ____. Note which of them the parent cannot open alone.
  6. Place each household task on a floor. Ask that the floor be named in the written duties so the caregiver is not guessing where to go.

Questions to ask

  • Have you worked a house with stairs and a rail on only one side? How did you handle the trips?
  • Do the stairs change the shift length you planned for this household? Ask for the number, not a feeling about it.
  • If the parent needs a hand on the stairs, what happens? If the answer is that a second person is needed, size that need as its own job before you finalize the schedule.
  • Will you stay on the floor where the parent is, or move between floors during the shift? Ask which of these you expect.

Listen for and watch for

A clear answer names the floors, the trips, and the carries. A vague answer such as we will manage the stairs with no count is a reason to ask again. If the written schedule places the caregiver on one floor while the parent spends the day on another, with no plan for the stairs, the sizing is wrong.

Write this down

Floors used in a normal day: ____

Stair crossings per day: ____

Weekly carries up or down: ____

Doors the parent cannot open alone: ____

Tasks placed on a named floor in the duties: yes / no

Once the count is written, compare it against the agency and direct paths on the Agency or Direct page, then check the order of steps on the Start Here page before you post the job.