The Importance of Caregiver Screening and Testing

One of the most important things to learn about any home care company is about their caregivers. This is what clients really invest in and is often the biggest cost of service. You need to be informed on how they screen, train and supervise their caregivers. While the person at the agency who answers the phone is polite and helpful, it will be the caregiver that ultimately shows up at your door. The best agencies have a proven screening process that includes a multi-tiered approach.

• 1st Interview- Personality screening- Skills evaluation
• Check work references
• Verify identity
• National criminal background check
• 2nd Interview
• Orientation

Though many caregivers have experience in the home, high-quality home care agencies have a progressive approach to both training and continuing education for their entire staff. Oftentimes the needs of the client may be unfamiliar to the caregiver. By providing caregivers with condition specific training, the client can receive safe and effective customer service. Here at Caring our caregivers have access to over 60 courses on conditions, skills and other information that allows them to deliver unparalleled service.

Once someone is placed with a client many home care companies go into a “wait and hope” mode. This is a poor practice of waiting and hoping that nothing goes wrong. Top agencies have a supervision schedule that includes both phone calls and on-site visits to the home. This provides an opportunity for the client to express any concerns and often accolades for a job well done. It also requires that a manager actually manage their staff. Why else should a client pay for a service if not to receive great service.. caregiver agency near me