How to Prepare for Your First Caregiver Visit

The first visit is awkward for everybody. A stranger is coming into a home to help with things the person has always managed alone, and there is no version of that which is not a little uncomfortable. A small amount of preparation makes it go considerably better.

Have the paperwork in one place

• A current list of every medication, including doses and timings
• Contact details for the physician and any specialists
• Insurance cards and any discharge paperwork from a recent hospital stay
• Allergies, particularly to medications
• Any advance directive or power of attorney documents

The medication list is the one that matters most. Bring the actual bottles if a list does not exist — it is more accurate than memory and it is often the first time anyone has seen the full picture together.

Write down what is actually difficult

In the moment, people minimize. Someone who has been struggling to get out of the bath for months will say they are managing fine. Making a note beforehand of the specific things that have become hard gives the assessing nurse something real to work from.

Decide who is in the room

One family member present is usually helpful. Four is usually not — it turns an assessment into a meeting about someone rather than a conversation with them. If several people want to be involved, one attending and reporting back tends to work better.

Let the person answer for themselves

This is the hardest one. It is instinctive to answer on a parent's behalf, particularly when their answer is not the accurate one. But the assessment needs their perspective, and the whole arrangement works better if they feel it is being done with them rather than to them. Correct the record afterwards if you need to.

Ask the practical questions

• Who exactly will be coming, and will it be the same person each time?
• What are the visit days and times?
• Who do we call at night or at the weekend?
• How will we know what happened during a visit?
• What does this cost, and what is covered?

A good agency will answer all of these without hesitation. Vagueness on any of them at the start tends to predict vagueness later.