Help me mange my mother's care.

February 26, 2012 7:15 PM

I need to find an assistant in Maine who can help me manage my mother's health care.

My mother lives in Maine. I live in Chicago. She gets in-home health care from caregivers she hires. I am trying to manage the scheduling, hiring, occasional firing, etc. of these caregivers. This includes finding substitutes when people call in sick. I know that a service could do this for me, but my mother is resisting a service because she really likes the caregivers she has now.

So, what I really need is someone in Maine who can be the on-the-scene person helping me with these logistics. Planning the schedule, finding subs at the last minute, recruiting new people, and maybe occasionally taking a shift.

I don't really know how to start looking for someone like this.

All suggestions welcome.

posted by yellowdoll to health & fitness (4 answers total)

OK, that was supposed to say "manage" but I guess that is clear.
posted by yellowdoll at 7:17 PM on February 26, 2012

Pick the best of the current caregivers and see if that person is willing to do all these things, give them a corresponding boost in pay. It will still be a better deal than a service.

My GF has worked as an independent caregiver and she has acted in this capacity before. The only really tricky bit would be the firing part, that's the sort of thing perhaps you should do over the phone.
posted by pseudonick at 7:38 PM on February 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Try googling for "case manager."
posted by pised at 8:12 PM on February 26, 2012

"Geriatric care management" is the specialty in question; the providers of same are usually social workers or nurses, and they tend to charge at levels commensurate with their advanced degrees and experience ($100/hour and up in the Boston area).

If you want something less intense and less costly than that, one possible route to take might be to call your mom's local Council on Aging or equivalent and ask the folks there if they have any recommendations.

I like the idea of having one of the current caregivers be the coordinator, but in a small town they may be reluctant to supervise their friends or neighbors. Definitely worth exploring, though.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:13 PM on February 26, 2012