Caregiving for pay (child, parent, money, relative)

[Sam I Am]

I have a cousin who owns her own business but really doesn't like it and fell into it by default. Her passion in life is older people and she's trying to figure out how to serve without going to work for an actual service. She really wants to do some personal necessities of life but not get into the health care end, or call herself a personal shopper or aide or whatever. Sort of Caregiving Lite, LOL!

Her thought is to come in a few hours a week and help with things like looking over the bills to make sure everything has been paid, maybe running a few errands like midweek groceries or picking up prescriptions, taking out trash, light housekeeping (like emptying the cat boxes, putting away the groceries, watering plants, etc.). No hands on bathing or truly personal care, just doing those things that can get away from you when you're older and either unable to get out or not feeling like it. She's not averse to loading the dishwasher or sweeping, but does not want to be a housekeeper either. Lots of older people just want some company for a few hours....so maybe even playing cards or doing a jigsaw puzzle, just visiting with someone who maybe doesn't have a lot of people in their life and no one to keep company with. She also has a background in owning a restaurant, so cooking isn't out of the question at all...even preparing meals that can be frozen and microwaved at a later time is sort of in the plan. Maybe taking someone to get their hair done or other out-of-home activities if they can't drive.

I have a couple of relatives in her area who are interested, and my cousin could start small with them - however, this is really her dream job and she'd like to switch over to doing that exclusively at some point. Like all of us, though, she has to stay alive :-) She has very modest needs so making money is not the primary goal.

My question is for those of you who are caretakers or who live away from your aging relatives - how much per hour do you think a service like this is worth, or how much are people willing to pay for sporadic once or twice a week help for a few hours? Is this a viable idea? I know the rate would vary from region to region, but just a general ballpark figure. And how much demand is there considering that she is not interested in getting hooked up with Medicare reimbursement or Meals on Wheels or anything like that? The people she has spoken with are people of means and it would be a cash deal...I think right now the thing holding her back is fear of failure and having absolutely no clue (and no confidence) to be able to say "my services are worth $X/hr."

Any ideas? What other kinds of helpful activities could she perform that aren't absolutely necessary for daily life, but that just need to be done? I know there are insurance considerations, etc., here...but I'm trying to help her figure it all out. Thanks for any help on this idea. I know there are folks who do this out there, we just haven't run across them in our very early quest to form a small business plan.

[old_cold]

I just picked a large city at random for ads on craigslist.
Maybe some of these would give you some ideas.
atlanta household services classifieds "senior care" - craigslist

[Beth56]

My MIL has the help you describe, including bathing, but through a service. I'm sure there are some who would hire your cousin, but one reason to go through a service is those they hire go through a background investigation, credit check, etc. These people go into the homes and should be insured and bonded. Theft, abuse, and other things do occur by those let into an elders home, unfortunately.

As far as pay, my MIL pays $20 per hour of which half goes to the company, the caregiver only makes about $10 per hour. They are paid time and a half for holidays.

Personally, I would not hire anyone into a home as an elderly caregiver that has not gone through a background and credit check.

[Gerania]

Perhaps she should call herself a companion.

Beth made a couple of good points. I assume that your cousin could run her own background and credit check to present to prospective employers. I'm sure that she could provide a few references.

I know that there are sites online where people market themselves as caregiver, babysitter. I read about them on CD. Can I remember them name of even one of them? No, but they are there somewhere on the internet.

[Briolat21]

There is a decent website called care.com that has senior care, child care, house keeping, etc.. It is a bit higher quality of applicants than Craig's list generally.

Your cousin (sister??) is walking the line between aide and companion. As a companion, she wouldn't be reimburseable by medicare even if she were to jump through the hoops. If her activities are strictly companion (organizing bills, playing cards, driving to the market), they are not "health care" expenses and not deductible. If they are assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) such as housekeeping (laundry, dishes, preparing food) or hygeine related - then they are considered necessary and are deductible (if a person is deducting medical expenses).

Since she is going with mostly word of mouth to a well-to-do clientele, tax deductions may or may not matter.

Personally, I would pay nothing for this service, as I think the ads for companions are really quite galling (I would like to sit and chat with old people, please pay me money to be their friend).

However if she is doing more aide work (ADL assistance) - then the rate here in the midwest is between $10/hour to $20/hour depending on the experience of the care giver, etc..

I'm sure there are areas of the country where $20 per hour is the norm. Here $10/hour is the norm, but I have met some people who make closer to $20.

I admire her entrepreneurial spirit and I'm sure there is some need for some of these services. But she will need to keep in mind that it is a business, taxes must be paid, and she should make sure she has references (background checks, etc..) ready to go.

As far as working outside of an agency, plenty of people (like myself) hire through websites like Craigslist (or care.com) people that are not with agencies, so that shouldn't be an obstacle all by itself.

good luck to her, though I wouldn't pay for a companion for my parents, I wish her well in making a go of it for people who will.

[Sam I Am]

Thank you all for your comments. She is in somewhat of a unique position, in that the people who have already said they would like to use her are elderly relatives on my side of the family or family friends who have known her for ages. Getting bonded would not be a problem and neither would a background check; however, with the few folks we already know it wouldn't be a deal breaker since it's more on a personal level and they know her. She has to protect herself, of course, against unwarranted charges (which unfortunately happens) and it would all be aboveboard. I have to admit, I never really thought of that part, but one of these folks already has some dementia and accuses everyone from the mailman to her own son of stealing from her on a regular basis. She's quite well-to-do - while we all know she is rambling (because the items ALWAYS turn up), that's the kind of stuff that can make you crazy even when you're innocent and can cost you other jobs.

I guess I assumed "caregiver" included a lot of personal care and as far as that goes she's not credentialed or trained. I guess it's just me - "companion" to me just sounds like someone playing cards for a few hours, not someone actually doing some very needed assistance in the area of shuttling around or light housework or cooking or whatever the need may be. Unfortunately, after taxes are paid, $10/hr. really works out to pretty much nothing, sad to say, especially with no other benefits like 401K, etc.

Old_cold, I did quickly go through the ads you provided...I personally probably wouldn't hire off Craigslist, as there are too many shady things going on. Word of mouth is sometimes your best advertising. But the prices per hour were about the same as apparently what the agencies pay.

Backing up and re-grouping - but thank you all!

[looking4answers12]

The Agencies were charing $18-$19 an hour regardless (it seemed) of the level of care needed for hourly rates.

I would say between $10.00 -$15.00 would be reasonable. I believe there is a market for the type of services she want to provide. I would caution that assisting with bills might not be something that she would want to pursue or something that people would feel comfortable receiving help with.

Offering that on a casual basis could be construed as suspicious. I personally wouldn't trust a caretiver with helping with my Dad's bills.

All the other services she wants to help with sounds great.

If she's looking for a way to get the word out, I would suggest possibly trying craiglist.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by looking4answers12

The Agencies were charing $18-$19 an hour regardless (it seemed) of the level of care needed for hourly rates.

I would say between $10.00 -$15.00 would be reasonable. I believe there is a market for the type of services she want to provide. I would caution that assisting with bills might not be something that she would want to pursue or something that people would feel comfortable receiving help with.

Offering that on a casual basis could be construed as suspicious. I personally wouldn't trust a caretiver with helping with my Dad's bills.

All the other services she wants to help with sounds great.

If she's looking for a way to get the word out, I would suggest possibly trying craiglist.

Its a good idea, but as mentioned if the patient as dementia/ other issues. this type of service is not a walk in the park.

You could have some legal issues, and also some family members who dont want their elderly parent exposed to a stranger who has run of the house.

When my dad was sick the visiting nurse went through his financial info. (which was NOT part of her job) and also opened up fraudulent credit cards .

Best to err on the side of caution if the parent/elderly person has dementia or is unable to control their environment.

[Briolat21]

An aide doesn't have to mean personal care, though most people will expect some of that if you're advertising services. Otherwise - yes assistance with ADL's is definitely considered aide work (light housekeeping), meal preparation, etc..

As far as monetary reward - no - generally speaking aide work is a very low income proposition. That is why (generally speaking) you find a lot of other people doing it that don't seem to have many other options.

She may be able to get $15 or so an hour, especially if the clientele is known and has means. But as far as advertising to the general public, $15 here would be expensive for someone with little experience and who will not assist with hygeine/personal care.

If she doesn't care about medicare reimbursement or the tax-deductibility of her services, personal assistant might actually be a more appropriate term (keeping calendars straight, helping to manage billls, helping with home tasks (arranging for repairs), running errands, etc..)

And personal assistants are probably generally paid more than home health aides/ care takers.

If she wants to go to school, or get certification - Geriatric Care Manager would be a position where she would assist the elderly (or their families) in arranging for services and implementing systems/services that would benefit them... that is a much more financially rewarding position ($50/hour potentially or more) .. but I believe it would require some specialized education.

good luck to her certainly - I do hope whatever she decides that she makes a go of it. Its never easy starting up new careers.

[Jukesgrrl]

Some relatives of mine in Illinois have a daily companion for her mother. They pay $25/hr (which includes the use of the companion's car) to someone who just hangs out with Granny, takes her shopping, and drives her to her many medical appointments. But Granny is VERY demanding and not all that pleasant, so the caregiver earns it. The going rate for that sort of thing where I live in Arizona is $15-20/hr.