Before the first shift, someone has to decide who else may walk through the door while the caregiver is working. Family members drop by, a neighbor brings soup, a friend wants to visit, a repair person arrives. If nobody has set the rule, the caregiver ends up deciding alone, or the household learns about a visitor after the fact. This piece gives you the steps to write the rule down before you commit.
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 person who might come in
Write the names below. Include people who hold keys, people who know the door code, and people who live close enough to stop by without calling.
Family: ______________________________
Friends and neighbors: ______________________________
Clergy, volunteers, or visiting professionals: ______________________________
Repair, delivery, and service workers: ______________________________
Step 2: Decide who approves each visit
For each category above, write one name beside it. This is the family member who says yes or no when a visitor is not on the list. Keep the number of approvers small. If three people can approve, the caregiver will end up waiting on a call that nobody answers.
Approver for unlisted visitors: ______________________________
Approver for repair and delivery workers: ______________________________
Step 3: Ask each candidate these five questions
1. If a family member arrives without calling first, what do you do? Listen for a plan that puts a call to the approver before any visit, and a plain answer that does not depend on the visitor being family.
2. Will you tell me when someone else has been in the house during your shift? Listen for a yes with a method, such as a line in the daily note or a text sent that day.
3. Do you ever have friends or relatives with you during your shifts? Listen for a clear no, or a stated rule that the candidate will put in writing.
4. If a visitor asks you about your parent's health, money, or medicine, what do you say? Listen for an answer that sends those questions to the family. Medicine stays with the family, the doctor, and the pharmacist. A caregiver may give reminders and pick up prescriptions as an errand, but questions from outsiders go to the approver.
5. If someone asks you to leave the house with them during a shift, what do you do? Listen for a firm refusal to leave your parent alone, and a call to the approver before anything else.
Step 4: Write the rule on one page
Fill this page in before you choose a candidate, then give the same page to each one so the answers can be compared.
Visitors who may come in without a call: ______________________________
Visitors who need approval first: ______________________________
Who approves: ______________________________ Phone: ______________________________
Visits outside shift hours allowed: yes / no, approved by ______________________________
Caregiver records each visitor in the daily note: yes / no
Signs to walk away
Stop the conversation with a candidate who says visitors are none of your business and will not put a rule in writing. Stop with a candidate who invites friends or relatives to stay during shifts without asking first. Stop with a candidate who will not say who has been in the house. Stop with a candidate who lets a visitor take over questions about money, health, or the schedule.
After the first week
Check the list against what actually happened. Add any new name that came up, and cross out anyone who no longer comes by. If you are still working through the wider hiring steps, Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring lays out the order.