If you’d rather stay in your home than move as you get older, start by asking yourself some key questions.
Most people want to age in place and live at home for as long as possible: according to an AARP survey, three-quarters of people 50 and older are hoping to do so.
But managing this successfully may mean hiring outside help, such as health aides who can assist you with daily activities that have become challenging. You might wonder when exactly it will make sense to seek that service. How will you know when it’s time? What can aides do for you? What are the costs and how can you make the most of their help?
Is it time to hire in-home help?
An easy way to know if it’s time for outside help is if your health takes a sudden turn for the worse — perhaps as the result of a fall that affects your mobility. But more often, the need for professional assistance at home isn’t so obvious. It develops gradually, as certain abilities — such as cooking, cleaning, or driving — become more difficult.
Even if you’re busy, happy, and able to do your own tasks and errands now, there may come a time when the balance shifts and daily activities become challenging.
“A lot of times these observations are made by family members or friends, and they start the discussion about getting help,” says Dr. Suzanne Salamon, associate chief of gerontology at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Start here: Ask yourself hard questions
You don’t have to wait until family and friends urge you to get outside help. Dr. Salamon recommends that you periodically assess your abilities and how well you’re managing on your own.
For example:
- Is it harder to get in and out of the bathtub because of muscle weakness or balance problems?
- Has driving become difficult because of vision changes, arthritis, or other reasons?
- Are you keeping up with your medication regimen, or are you sometimes not sure if you’ve taken pills?
- Are cooking and cleaning becoming much more of a chore than they used to be?
- Do you find grocery shopping or errands a little overwhelming?
- Do you need help bathing or getting dressed?
Be honest about the answers, and let your needs be your guide. “You might not need a home health aide yet. Maybe you only need a cleaning service to come in every other week,” Drs says. “But if you need more assistance, it’s probably time to hire health aides.
What do health aides do?
Health aides are professional caregivers. There are two main types of aides.
- A certified nursing assistant (CNA): This is a trained, licensed professional who can provide hands-on physical care, such as helping you get up and down from a chair or bed, bathing, dressing, feeding, brushing teeth, and using the bathroom. A CNA can also perform homemaker services, such as cooking, light housework, transportation, shopping, overseeing medication routines, or sharing meaningful activities or conversation.
- A companion: This is a registered professional who can provide homemaker services but is not trained in body mechanics and cannot provide hands-on care.
The best place to find aides is through a private duty care agency, which vets and employs the aides, and takes care of their taxes and social security withholdings.
How can you find a reliable private duty care company, and what questions should you ask? Dr’s suggests asking for recommendations from friends, your doctor, local senior services, or your local Area Agency on Aging.