How Can I Safely Hire a Caregiver During COVID?

Canadians of all ages have been living with COVID-19 since early 2020. Concerns about the pandemic and its effects on loved ones continue. A major concern for families is how to safely hire a caregiver to come into the home. This is true if your loved one is a senior or someone who is ill.

This concern is shared by you and other families who want to care for your loved one at home. This is due to the risks that happen by being around other people. This is more so for elders and people with illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, or asthma. Now that your family has decided to hire a caregiver, you want to do so safely.

This article guides you with how to safely hire a caregiver. Even though the focus is on steps to take due to COVID, these tips apply to other illnesses as well. For instance, the flu or colds put seniors at risk for pneumonia. Or a stomach virus can lead to dehydration.

Information to Request from a Potential Caregiver

Even when safely hiring a home caregiver in the best of times, you want to be sure they follow safe health practices such as:

• Taking care of themselves and not being prone to sickness
• They follow good hygiene practices such as hand-washing
• Letting you know if they’ve been exposed to a communicable illness, such as a viral infection

The COVID-19 pandemic means that families like you need to ask more questions to safely hire caregivers. This ensures that you’re hiring someone you can trust. You need the peace of mind that your loved one will not be exposed to this harmful illness. Caregivers you’re interested in hiring will gladly:

• Show you their COVID-19 vaccination papers
• Follow your requests, such as wearing a mask at all times in your loved one’s home
• Let you know if they have been exposed to COVID-19

Safely Hiring a Caregiver

There are steps you can take to make your loved one’s home safe for each person who enters. This includes caregivers. Here are safety tips that ensure anyone who enters your loved one’s home is healthy:

• Have a ‘check-in’ table set up inside the entry. It should be equipped with:
  • A thermometer
  • Disposable masks
  • Hand wipes
  • Disposable gloves
  • Trash bag for throwing away disposable items
• Each person should bring their on mask
• Have masks on hand for those who do not have one
• After they put their mask on, they should take their temperature
  • They should not enter if their temp is equal to or over 38 C
  • They should not enter if they have a bad cough, body aches, or have just lost their sense of smell or taste
• If they’re safe to enter, they should follow these steps:
  • Wipe their hands with the wipes on the table
  • Keep a safe distance from your loved one–at least one meter except when doing personal care
• While in your loved one’s home, the caregiver will:
  • Use gloves for personal care and cleaning surfaces in the kitchen and bath
  • Let you know if they think your family member has possible COVID-19 symptoms
  • Follow the entry process each day
  • Call you if they have had a possible exposure to COVID-19