Most families start a search with a feeling. A parent is slipping, a sibling is worn out, and someone says we need a caregiver. The feeling is real, but it does not give you the size of the job. This guide gives you a count you can finish on one sheet of paper, so the first call you make describes a real need.

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: Set up the count

  1. Take one sheet of paper and draw seven columns, one for each of the last seven days.
  2. Down the left side, list every person who helps with the parent, including yourself.
  3. Keep the sheet where you will see it each evening for one week.

Step 2: Mark the cost

  1. Each time someone left work early, arrived late, changed a shift, or cancelled plans because of the parent, write the hours in that person's row.
  2. Each time a task was done by someone who was not planned for it, write the task and the hours in that row.
  3. At the end of the week, total the days and hours for each person.

Write here: Days lost by ________ = ________. Hours lost by ________ = ________.

Step 3: Tell a pattern from a crisis

One bad day is not a pattern. A fall, a hospital visit, or a sudden illness can cost a family a lot in a single day and then settle down. Circle any entry that happened only once and was resolved. Then look at the entries that repeat.

  1. If the same person loses time in three or more of the seven days, you have a standing need.
  2. If one task keeps landing on one name, you have a single point of failure, and a caregiver may need to cover that task.
  3. If a planned trip or a shift at work was cancelled more than once, the gap is already costing you money or standing at your job.

Step 4: Write down what the count shows

Write here: The person who loses the most time is ________. The task that causes the most loss is ________. The hours we need covered each week are ________ to ________.

Keep this sheet. When you talk to an agency or a direct caregiver, the first answer you give should be these three lines, not a general description of your parent. A caregiver can only plan a schedule against numbers.

Next move

Take the three lines to the steps in Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring and use them to decide what to ask on the first call.