Is a personal support worker what we need? How to find one? (Toronto)
June 15, 2024 8:04 PM Subscribe
My mother, 81, fell and broke her hip. They replaced it. She is doing pretty well but will take some time to recover. I want to find someone who can help her out around the house. I think there’s a lot of uncertainty about what sort of help she’ll need and when. We are in Toronto.
My mom and dad live at home together. My dad is 83. They are in general able to take care of themselves, but getting to the age where things are challenging. While my mother recovers from this injury, they will definitely need help.
Some details
a) She is currently at a rehab centre. They don’t know when they will go home. Probably end of this week but not sure?
b) We are not sure what sort of help she is likely to need, but we want to do what we can to make it easier for her. My parents could use help with meal prep, housework etc.
c) My mother should be in general mobile when she gets home, initially with a walker. They expect her to fully recover, but it will take some time. She is worried she may have trouble getting up/down the stairs in her house
d) It would be great to have someone available as soon as she gets home, but not sure how easy/hard this is, given the short timeframe, and the uncertainty of timing. (It might make sense to err on the side of bringing someone in a day or two early, I guess, and provide some extra help to my dad…)
e) My parents are generally pretty easy to please: They are pretty happy with most services they receive, etc
f) They have enough money that they’re able to afford a few weeks of full-time help, I think, without it being a financial burden
g) We are in Toronto
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I assume what we are looking for is a PSW, but not sure.
I have no idea where to start: Is this a thing we can find? Where do we look? Can we accomodate the timing (near-term and uncertain)?
Any advice very much welcome!!!
My mom and dad live at home together. My dad is 83. They are in general able to take care of themselves, but getting to the age where things are challenging. While my mother recovers from this injury, they will definitely need help.
Some details
a) She is currently at a rehab centre. They don’t know when they will go home. Probably end of this week but not sure?
b) We are not sure what sort of help she is likely to need, but we want to do what we can to make it easier for her. My parents could use help with meal prep, housework etc.
c) My mother should be in general mobile when she gets home, initially with a walker. They expect her to fully recover, but it will take some time. She is worried she may have trouble getting up/down the stairs in her house
d) It would be great to have someone available as soon as she gets home, but not sure how easy/hard this is, given the short timeframe, and the uncertainty of timing. (It might make sense to err on the side of bringing someone in a day or two early, I guess, and provide some extra help to my dad…)
e) My parents are generally pretty easy to please: They are pretty happy with most services they receive, etc
f) They have enough money that they’re able to afford a few weeks of full-time help, I think, without it being a financial burden
g) We are in Toronto
===========
I assume what we are looking for is a PSW, but not sure.
I have no idea where to start: Is this a thing we can find? Where do we look? Can we accomodate the timing (near-term and uncertain)?
Any advice very much welcome!!!
A stair/chair lift is going to cost ~$4K. My mother, ~20 years older than yours, had the use of hers for only 4 months before a final medical crisis took her from home to A Home. You might consider a temporary down-stairs bed until the hip gets better. Earlier in the story my mother, registered blind but active indoors and out, engaged an agency which had the capability for escalating from clattering dishes and hoovering through to help in the bathroom to full-on nursing care. She also opted for 7 daily visits rather than M-F because she dreaded being found on Monday morning after falling at Friday lunchtime. The agency sent her the roster a week in advance and tried to send known people.
As a first step glance at Home Instead or Right At Home to get your head round what the journey may look like.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:56 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
As a first step glance at Home Instead or Right At Home to get your head round what the journey may look like.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:56 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]
Before your mom is discharged, an occupational therapist will do an assessment to help define her needs (along with a physiotherapist), every hospital in Toronto does this for seniors. Ask your mom’s nurse when the OT assessment will be and try to be there. They might do it whenever. You can also request an assessment from Home and Community Care Support Services.
Private PSWs usually charge/book for a 3 hour minimum at around $30-35/hr I think. From Home and Community Care (public/free) it’s usually 2 x 30 mins or 3 x 15 mins daily.
Public PSWs’ job is only about personal care and grooming (helping with bathing, toileting, dressing, and eating but not so much meal preparation unless it’s very light eg eggs or oatmeal; no cleaning unless it’s washing dishes only your mom would have used). They can dispense meds as well. Private ones will probably do most of that.
Home and Community Care also doesn’t directly provide PSWs, they draw from a network of private and public agencies. My dad got lucky with an amazing non-profit agency after two dud private ones. The bad agencies just had poor working conditions so staff weren’t keen on it basically (eg they were penalized for cancellations, booked with impossible targets, had to pay then get reimbursed for parking). The nonprofit agency my dad’s PSWs work for gives them guaranteed hours and none of that other stuff.
House cleaning, shopping, meal prep and cooking are obviously needed but it’s not a PSW that would do it (unless they’re private). Maybe HCCSS can facilitate it - when we needed it there was such a service but it was very minimal in terms of time and scope. If you can hire someone that’s great. If your parents are cool with whoever that helps a lot, some people aren’t so comfortable with letting strangers into their home.
Might still want to hire more in-depth cleaning (eg Molly Maid) once a month, see how it goes
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:20 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
Private PSWs usually charge/book for a 3 hour minimum at around $30-35/hr I think. From Home and Community Care (public/free) it’s usually 2 x 30 mins or 3 x 15 mins daily.
Public PSWs’ job is only about personal care and grooming (helping with bathing, toileting, dressing, and eating but not so much meal preparation unless it’s very light eg eggs or oatmeal; no cleaning unless it’s washing dishes only your mom would have used). They can dispense meds as well. Private ones will probably do most of that.
Home and Community Care also doesn’t directly provide PSWs, they draw from a network of private and public agencies. My dad got lucky with an amazing non-profit agency after two dud private ones. The bad agencies just had poor working conditions so staff weren’t keen on it basically (eg they were penalized for cancellations, booked with impossible targets, had to pay then get reimbursed for parking). The nonprofit agency my dad’s PSWs work for gives them guaranteed hours and none of that other stuff.
House cleaning, shopping, meal prep and cooking are obviously needed but it’s not a PSW that would do it (unless they’re private). Maybe HCCSS can facilitate it - when we needed it there was such a service but it was very minimal in terms of time and scope. If you can hire someone that’s great. If your parents are cool with whoever that helps a lot, some people aren’t so comfortable with letting strangers into their home.
Might still want to hire more in-depth cleaning (eg Molly Maid) once a month, see how it goes
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:20 PM on June 15 [2 favorites]
Also - you can ask the OT for a list of private PSW agencies and anything else, just ask
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:28 PM on June 15
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:28 PM on June 15
Here’s the Home and Community Care website too.
For stairs, my dad was thoroughly evaluated at rehab (Providence) for what he could and couldn’t do, as well as trained on how to walk/take stairs. I would maybe get a quote for renting a stair lift, but it might not be needed. Another practical rental/purchase, depending on where the bathrooms are, is a commode.
If you can afford it, I would definitely do a meal and cleaning service along the lines of a good meal a day and a good clean a week.
My dad’s injury was different but I would recommend not looking for anything full-time to start; maybe ramp up or down from the hospital recommendations. You may need those caregiving dollars to stretch longer than you like.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:18 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
For stairs, my dad was thoroughly evaluated at rehab (Providence) for what he could and couldn’t do, as well as trained on how to walk/take stairs. I would maybe get a quote for renting a stair lift, but it might not be needed. Another practical rental/purchase, depending on where the bathrooms are, is a commode.
If you can afford it, I would definitely do a meal and cleaning service along the lines of a good meal a day and a good clean a week.
My dad’s injury was different but I would recommend not looking for anything full-time to start; maybe ramp up or down from the hospital recommendations. You may need those caregiving dollars to stretch longer than you like.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:18 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
One option for the longer term is to work with an agency that brings live in care workers from overseas. I believe the government program for this is called the Foreign In-home Caregiver Program. It can be cheaper and more stable for more care than you would get from a local agency. My former landlady got a few hours a week of PSW care covered by OHIP but it was nowhere near enough care for her actual daily needs living at home so they used this program to get her much better daily care.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:19 AM on June 16
posted by jacquilynne at 6:19 AM on June 16
I have a friend who's a PSW in Toronto. I Memailed you his contact.
posted by dobbs at 6:43 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 6:43 AM on June 16 [1 favorite]
On FB, search "Moms and Nannies" groups, find the one closest to your parents' area, and make a post explaining what you need. You can easily find an experienced PSW (or cleaner, or nanny, or meal prepper, or household manager, etc). Expect to pay about $30 an hour.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 1:59 PM on June 16
posted by nouvelle-personne at 1:59 PM on June 16
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1. hire a nursing/home care agency that provides caregivers (more expensive and more bound by policy, but they find/vet/train the caregivers and do the scheduling/payroll/tax stuff/etc, and if someone calls out sick they will send a replacement) or
2. hire a caregiver privately (less expensive and more flexible, but you do all the legwork).
Commonly an agency would be able to send someone quickly; they should have a nurse do an evaluation of what you need and then they would supply caregivers with the relevant qualifications/experience. If you want to hire privately, there are websites like care.com, and people talk about hiring people directly through job boards for nursing students. It's possible someone at the rehab place might be able to give pointers to where people find carers locally.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:34 PM on June 15 [1 favorite]