Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Home Health Aide

Trying to find a home health aide can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? Do you type "home health aide near me" into the search bar and hope for the best results?

To ease this process and find someone who can provide the level and comfort of care you and your family need, you can start with the following questions.

What Are Your Qualifications?

Home health care covers a vast range of services. One health aide may be qualified in a certain area, but they may not have expertise in every skill you need. This is why it's important to ask about their qualifications before hiring them.

Ideally, you want to hire someone with extensive experience. You should approach the issues as a business owner hiring a potential employee. Ask to see their credentials, certifications, and past experience in the industry.

You may also want to ask how they are evaluated. Do they have a history of positive evaluations, and could they provide them? Learning this type of information will help build your confidence in them.

Beyond qualifications, you should ask about their experience in home health care. How long have they been providing home health care services? And do they have any testimonials from previous patients and their families?

Getting the answers to these questions will help you feel more comfortable when hiring them and inviting them into your home.

What Services Do You Provide?

What does a home health aide do? Good question. Home health aide duties and responsibilities can vary widely.

When considering different aides, it's best to get to the point and ask them, "What services do you provide?" right off the bat. This will help you understand what they include in their services plan and if they are a good fit for your needs.

After asking this question, a natural followup is: "How much do home health aides cost?" Again, it varies depending on what you need.

Sometimes, health aides will provide tiers of services under different price points. Ask them to layout every service included under the tiers, as well as the price associated with each. This will help you narrow down what services you need and can afford.

If you want to bypass this work, you can contact a home health aide agency. With an agency, you can specify what type of services you need, and they will do the rest to pair you up with someone meeting your specifications. You can use a site like Medicare.gov to help you find a home health aide agency near you. 

Other Questions to Ask When Hiring a Home Health Aide

• Are you certified by Medicare and Medicaid?
• What are your organizations privacy practices?
• How and when do you evaluate your home health aides?
• What is the training process to become a home health aide?
• What are your home health aide services?
• What happens when or if a home health aide or caregiver does not show up at all or on time?
• Do you accept insurance?
• How much do your home health aide services cost?

Take Your Time Finding the Right Home Health Aide

Asking these questions will help you hire a home health aide you can trust. Once you find the perfect match, you can rest easy knowing you or your loved one is receiving the specialized care they deserve.

Home health care services are expansive and comprehensive. You should be able to find exactly what you need, regardless of how unique the service is. If you'd like to learn more, click here to understand the full benefits that home health care services can provide.