A house on one level and a house with a bedroom upstairs are different jobs, even when the parent needs the same help. The stairs add trips, time, and sometimes a second set of hands. This guide gives you a way to count them before you write the hours.

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: Count the levels and the trips

1. Count how many levels the parent must move between in a normal day. Write the number: ____

2. List every trip on a normal day that crosses a level: bedroom to kitchen, bedroom to bathroom, kitchen to a basement laundry, and so on. Write the count per shift: ____

Step 2: Time one trip

3. On an ordinary day, time one full trip on the stairs with a watch, from the moment the parent starts moving to the moment they are settled. Write the minutes: ____

4. Multiply the trips per shift by the minutes. Write the total: ____ This is the stair time the shift has to contain before you add any other task.

Step 3: Write down what the parent can do and what it takes

5. Write what the parent can manage on the stairs, and what help they use now. Ask the doctor or therapist for the current guidance and write the date of the answer, so you know when it was given. The caregiver job is set around that guidance, not around a guess.

6. Decide who handles the stairs on each shift, the caregiver or a second person. Write the name for each shift that needs one: ____

Step 4: Check the candidate in the house

7. Ask the candidate to walk the stairs with you during the visit, at the pace the parent uses. Listen for a plain answer about how the candidate would handle a trip that takes longer than planned.

Walk-away signs

Walk away if the candidate says the stairs do not matter to the hours or refuses to walk the route with you. Walk away if the quoted shift does not leave room for the stair time you wrote down.

When the sizing sheet is complete, compare it against the basic steps on Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring before you post the job.