Starting Home Care: A Family's First Steps
The triggers, the assessment, the agencies — how to start home care without making the common mistakes.
9 min read
Most families start home care reactively — after a fall, a hospitalization, a new diagnosis. Starting proactively yields better choices and lower stress.
Common triggers: a fall, hospital discharge with new functional limits, a dementia diagnosis, declining ADLs, or caregiver exhaustion.
An honest functional assessment is the first step. Cover ADLs (bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, eating), IADLs (cooking, medications, finances, transportation), and cognition.
Distinguish home health (skilled, often Medicare-covered, time-limited) from home care (non-medical, private-pay or long-term care insurance, often ongoing).
Interview at least two agencies. Ask about caregiver vetting, training, supervision, scheduling flexibility, backup coverage, and after-hours clinical contact.
The agency selection guide and Medicare coverage piece in this cluster cover the next steps in detail.