What to look for in a home care professional

Home care for a mobility impaired person can really take a lot of pressure off of the rest of the family. They’re trained and paid to support your loved one to conduct daily life activities safely. Understandably, families want to ensure that whoever comes into their home with such a role needs to be trusted and well qualified for such a job.
In this article we cover some areas that you should look for as you choose potential home carers. You should always talk to your occupational therapist and doctors to know exactly the type of help your loved one requires. And it’s important that the individual has a say in who they get help from.

Credentials and experience

Bringing a home carer into the fold is a big step for anyone with mobility challenges. They’ll rely on them for conducting certain daily activities and it can be a vulnerable feeling to depend on someone else.

For that reason, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve done a good background check on the carer, the organisation they’re from and checked what their previous experience is. Different countries have different regulations and laws pertaining to disability support services. A good first step is speaking with your GP who can give you the right direction on who to speak with and what to check for.

Good reviews from others

Reviews are one of the best ways to get real world proof that a particular provider is worth exploring further. Of course, everyone’s experience will be different, but if a care provider has enough information available from their clients about the experience, you can typically build a picture.
Even better is if you can speak directly to other families who interact with that home care professional or provider. This way you can ask questions and work out if the specific needs of your loved one will be suited to that provider.

A good personality fit with your mobility impaired loved one

This is actually a far more important element to the decision making process than you might think.
When we consider what a home care professional is doing – assisting with cleaning, cooking, bathing, dressing – you can understand why a good, positive personality is important. Trust is a big part of what makes a carer-client relationship work, so you will want to choose someone who gets on with the family.

Compatibility between carer and client can lay the foundation for many years of positive in-home living experiences for someone with mobility difficulties. Every combination is different, so what works for one family may not work for another.

A good communicator

Communication is fundamental to any home care professional’s work. You’ll want to engage with a home carer that is easy to understand, gives clear instructions and listens to what you or your loved one is saying. Communication puts both parties at ease, and ensures that daily tasks are completed comfortably and efficiently.
You can get a good idea of the communication style in your initial discussions with potential home carers and whether or not they’d be a good fit for your loved one with a mobility impairment. There may need to be extra considerations for someone with cognitive impairment also, and you can discuss these requirements with your loved one’s health professionals for more tailored guidance.

Patience

While we’re reasonably confident that the majority of home care professionals have patience in their nature, it’s not something to overlook when you’re weighing up options.
Completing tasks with a mobility impairment is a slower, harder process than an able bodied person, so a carer who is relaxed about making multiple attempts to conduct certain movements is a must have. If the mobility impaired individual is working through physical therapy with a roadmap towards improving personal motor skills and movement then you’ll want to ensure home carers are plugged into the rehabilitation plan and doing their part to support this effort.

The ability to adapt on the fly as required

Adaptability helps keep more decision making in place for the mobility impaired individual. If they’ve got the speech or communication skills to adjust daily tasks to suit their preferences, then a home carer should be comfortable helping them to do this provided it doesn’t put either party at risk.

Many of these changes are likely to be inconsequential such as the order of certain dressing tasks or where to eat in the home, but other things may require support from the occupational therapist to determine how best to adjust these.

A home carer will be able to determine in the moment whether such requests fall into the ‘on-the-fly’ or ‘needs further discussion’ category.

Home carers do an incredible job for our global mobility impaired community. They not only empower their clients to get through the day with dignity and comfort but they’re a big support to families committed to other things like work, parenting, school and socialising.

Further reading

Enjoyed this article? You may be interested in these resources online:

The information in this article is intended as general information only and is not a replacement for official health guidance by your local medical providers. Please always consult an occupational therapist and/or local healthcare for more specific guidance.