SOME HELP IN FINDING HELP
By Heidi Johnson-Wright
For a person with mobility limitations, a personal care attendant offers help and independence. But finding the right attendant can be daunting. Here are a few tips from someone who knows the ropes.
As you conduct your Personal Care Attendant search, keep several things in mind. Decide if the gender of the person matters to you, especially if the attendant will be helping with dressing and bathing. Same-sex attendants can more easily assist you in public restrooms and clothing store changing rooms. If you require no personal care or gender is not an issue, consider both men and women for the job.
In regard to age, I've had excellent attendants from the ages of 20 to70. My experience has been that older people are more responsible, while younger folks are in better physical shape if they need to lift you out of a tub or up from a chair. For me, it's never been a major consideration.
Experience is a great asset, but usually not necessary unless you require specialized care such as catheterization or help with exercises. I'd rather hire someone who is punctual, dependable and inexperienced over someone I can't rely on. I can always train someone to assist me, but I can't make her responsible if she's not.
Whether you're hiring through an agency or on your own, be specific about what you want. If you hire your own attendant, use that added control to learn as much as you can about the prospect before you make a final decision. Even if a person sounds perfect over the phone, insist on a face-to-face meeting at least once, even if it's just a 30-minute informal interview. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn about someone just by seeing him or her in person.
While it's important to know what you want in an attendant, it's also important to keep an open mind. For example, a woman I know who usually hired females was surprised to find that her first male attendant ironed clothes better than any attendant she'd ever had.
Most of all, listen to your gut reaction. Although it's tough to do when you're in a hurry to get someone, don't hire any prospect who makes you feel uneasy.
If you use an in-home health care service, the cost per hour can vary between companies in the same city and even between franchises of the same service in different locations.
According to home health care professionals, the cost of a service is often higher in large, metropolitan areas than in smaller, rural regions.
Some health insurance carriers will pay for some or all attendant care services. The factors that make coverage more likely are:
• The attendant is providing direct personal care and not acting solely as a companion.
• A doctor verifies that the attendant care is medically necessary for the patient to remain independent.
• Care is provided by an in-home health care service rather than someone hired directly.
Whether attendant care will be paid by insurance depends on the terms of your policy. When checking, don't assume that a provision addressing the coverage of long-term care refers to attendant care. Long-term care can sometimes mean institutional or nursing home care only.
If you have insurance coverage, you'll want to know what the policy limits are. Insurance companies may limit coverage to a number of hours per day and/or a total dollar amount per year.
What you pay someone you hire directly is entirely up to you. Keep in mind, however, that you'll have to provide compensation competitive with the other employers in your area.
Of course, how much you ultimately pay will be a combination of factors -- how much (if any) care your insurance covers, the hourly rate of the person you hire and how many hours the person works. While some people may need almost round-the-clock help, others do fine with only three or four hours per week.
Whether your relationship with your attendant becomes a life-long friendship or merely a brief boss-employee relationship, the benefits of having a personal attendant can be great.
Attendant care has enabled me to go away to college and law school, to live alone when I was single, and helps me to take care of my house now that I'm married and practicing law.
It's a wonderful tool for gaining independence -- independence that equals quality of life.
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