New York Home Care: Tips & Resources For Family Caregivers

Home care allows your care recipient to receive services like therapy, skilled nursing, and personal care in their home. Receiving home care services can benefit both of you. Professional caregiving can support your care recipient’s health and reduce the effects of their condition or illness. For caregivers, it can help: 

• Reduce your stress and reduce the risk of burnout.
• Give you peace of mind knowing your care recipient is in good hands.
• Make care more accessible by avoiding the need to go to facilities to receive services.
• Lower costs of care in comparison to other options like nursing home facilities.

With so many home care options available, it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we’ve created this list of 6 tips to help you begin your journey with New York home care services.

Looking for more information? Trualta offers additional tips and resources so that you can make the best of your home care experience. If you reside in New York, you can access Trualta’s caregiver education, resources, and more to help you build your caregiving skills and community. If you live in another state, you can check if you also have free access to Trualta.

6 Tips For Accessing New York Home Care

1. Identify Where You Need Help 

Consider both what your care recipient needs as well as what you need. Use these questions to help:

• Do they need specific care tasks done that you’re unable, uncomfortable, or unsure of how to do? 
• Do you need a few hours off every once in a while to care for yourself and others or to complete non-caregiving tasks? 
• Do you need more structured time off to care for yourself and get a longer break?
• Do you want to explore caregiver training and need focused time in the day to get it done? 
• What care tasks does your care recipient need support with? This determines what home care services are required. Some examples might include personal care, medical care, nursing care, or support with activities of daily living. Your care recipient’s healthcare team may also be able to help you make this decision. This resource from the New York Department of Health can give you additional information about where to find each type of service you’re looking for in New York. 
• Would your care recipient benefit from a caregiver with specialized training? For example, if your care recipient has a condition like dementia or Parkinson’s disease, some caregivers are trained to provide services to these populations who need personalized care.

2. Explore New York Home Care Options

Consider the following questions and prompts to help you start the decision-making process:

• What type of home care are you looking for? In New York State, home care agencies must be licensed or certified by the New York State Department of Health. This means they need to fulfill certain requirements to provide home care services. There are 2 main types of home care agencies in New York State:
  • Certified Home Health Agencies, which provide home care services to people who need skilled, intermediate health care. Services are provided on a part-time and intermittent basis.
  • Licensed Home Care Services Agencies, which provide home care services to people who have private insurance coverage or pay with their own funds.
• Explore the New York State Home Care Agency profiles to find agencies in your area, by service type, or by name. For example, you can find agencies local to New York City. 
• Look at the New York State Home Care Registry. It will tell you whether an individual New York home care worker has completed state-approved training (if you decide not to go through an agency).
• Ask for recommendations from your care recipient’s healthcare team, friends and family, or others in your care circle. 

3. Consider Financing

This may depend on the type of service your care recipient needs and whether they meet eligibility requirements to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare coverage. You can also explore whether your care recipient can receive the service under their private health insurance, a managed care agency, or through personal funds. You can also search for in-home care grants like this one for individuals with dementia. 

4. Set Expectations & Interview Candidates

To avoid possible problems, it’s important to take careful steps to choose the right home care for your care recipient. A big part of this is asking the right questions to help you make the right choice the first time. 

Here are some questions you could ask:

• How long have you been in business? Can you provide references?
• Are you bonded? (A home care bond helps protect you and your care recipient in the event that the home care provider engages in malicious treatment or causes damages).
• Do you have business liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance, and can you provide me with copies?
• What care services do you provide? 
• Do you create a personalized care plan for each patient?
• Do your caregivers (or you) have experience or training in providing care to a person with my care recipient’s condition?
• Do your caregivers (or you) receive regular training?
• Do you conduct background checks on your caregivers? (Tip: you’ll need to do this on your own if you don’t hire through an agency).
• What is the protocol if a caregiver isn’t available during their scheduled time, for example, if they’re sick?
• What are your rates?
• Who is our point of contact if the caregiver doesn’t arrive or is late?
• How do you match us with a caregiver? Can we meet them ahead of time?

5. Introduce Your Care Recipient

Bringing someone into the home isn’t always easy on your care recipient. If possible, bring them along when interviewing candidates. Ask for their input and thoughts about each one, and consider it when making a decision.

Whether your care recipient receives care from a registered nurse, home health aide, or personal care aide, it’s important that they get to know one another. A great way to do this is to fill out an “About Me” worksheet. It can include information like: 

• How they want to be addressed. For example, “Mr. Smith”, “Derek”, or by a nickname.
• Their likes, dislikes, and preferences. For example, preferring food not to touch on their plate.
• Routines. For example, shaving every morning. 
• Hobbies and how they like to do them.
• Any other important information, like preferred pronouns or mobility aids they use.

If possible, include your care recipient when filling out this sheet together. This resource is especially helpful if they receive home care services from several different care professionals. 

6. Keep Communication Open

When bringing in help, it’s important that everyone is on the same page. Talk to the caregiver or agency about how they plan to keep you notified of any changes or problems that arise during caregiving. Ensure there’s a clear system for communication so that nothing is missed.

It’s also important to ensure you and your care recipient communicate with one another. Discuss ahead of time how you’ll bring up any potential problems or concerns if any come up. 

References

1. https://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/home_care/consumer.htm 
2. https://www.activagecare.com/understanding-the-silence-top-3-reasons-family-caregivers-dont-seek-help-for-self-care/ 
3. https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/program/longterm/ 
4. https://www.homeinstead.com/location/603/cost-of-care-for-aging-adults/dementia-home-care-grant/ 
5. https://www.aplaceformom.com/caregiver-resources/articles/questions-to-ask-a-home-care-agency 
6. https://www.agingcare.com/articles/interview-questions-to-ask-a-home-care-company-245749.htm 
7. https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-select-a-home-care-company-230598.htm 
8. https://alzheimermontreal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/All-about-me-person-with-dementia.pdf 

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