For those with home healthcare workers that assist them or their elderly parents...

[W_HAMILTON]

...how are you handling them during this pandemic?

I have a home healthcare worker (via a home healthcare service) that assists my elderly mother twice each week. I have already cut back to just one day and I'm thinking of eliminating the service entirely in the short term and providing that care myself instead.

What are you all doing in situations such as these and have you all heard any advice from "the professionals" on how to approach such situations?

Thank you!

[Ilsa]

1. I have helpers.

Two young, unmarried women with one young child each at home. I can't bring myself to fire them through their agency. As long as they are careful, I'll let them stay on to help me with my son.

[W_HAMILTON]

2. I have those same concerns.

We kept one caregiver (via a service) on for quite awhile just because my mom really liked her and I didn't want her to lose the work, even though we pay out-of-pocket currently and it has cost us quite a bit. Since we now just use the caregivers once to twice each week, I imagine that they see other clients the rest of the time, which is mainly where I am worried that they may get infected and potentially spread the coronavirus to my mom and maybe even myself (not in the best of health, unfortunately).

Have you talked with them directly or their company to see what specific steps they are taking to ensure that they don't get themselves infected and potentially infect those they are providing care for? Maybe I should start with that before canceling the service entirely...

[Ilsa]

4. I've had a good talk with them.

At first, they weren't taking this seriously. Then the numbers started going up, some of them literally too close to home. They are much more serious about the disease now, and I think they understand that unemployment of service workers will be skyrocketing. Still, every once in awhile, if I feel like they aren't doing their part (hard to explain my situation here), I do something to cause them to wonder why I keep them.

I also advised them to watch some pandemic movies like Contagion to get an idea of the societal breakdown and desperation that can occur.

[AllyCat]

3. Having the same issue.

We are in a spot as my sister is out of state and mom is an hour from me. I am a HCW and cannot be off work to care for her. Keeping current caregiver as mom has a DNR and quality of life is important right now. So, caregiver continues.

[tazkcmo]

5. I want to go help my father

But I have to assume I have the virus although I have no symptoms and feel fine. In the absence of testing I am not going to take a chance of giving it to my 85 year old father and killing him.

[W_HAMILTON]

6. Bump for any input from posters that might be late risers! :D

[Crunchy Frog]

7. I'm an HHA, and I quit all my cases early last week.

I and my two 11 year old sons live with my 80 year old mother, who is extremely healthy and fully functional, but still at high risk due to her age. She basically insisted that I quit.

I'm not going to risk killing my mother and destroying my family just to make things easier for my agency.

Plus, one of my sons brought back something from middle school that had him coughing up a storm for over a week. It doesn't seem to be COVID, since none of the rest of us has gotten more than extremely mild symptoms lasting a couple of days, but who knows what I could potentially be bringing into my clients homes.

If I had an aide assisting my family member, I would end it for the time being. You just don't know where they've been or what they may have picked up.