How to determine the value for money when selecting a home care agency

Your family has finally decided to hire a Personal Support Worker for your elderly parents in Toronto. Now, how do you know if you are getting the best possible care for the right amount of time that fits your family’s budget? How do you know if the agency you hired is following through on the care plan? Can you trust your parents’ perspective on the care delivered?



The easiest way to start answering these questions is to demand the documents and details of the care provided by the home care agency. Documentation can be extensive or basic. At Arcadia Home Care, all our clients and their families have 24/7 access to an online care log. It is personalized to reflect the family’s priorities and the senior’s needs, including special care for Alzheimer’s patients. The amount of time your Personal Support Worker can invest in tracking information should be balanced with the time required to provide care to your parent!

For example, documenting time spent cleaning is worthwhile if you feel that a clean house reflects high-quality work. Some time ago, Arcadia Home Care encountered a situation where a client’s child expressed concern about the recycling, which wasn’t washed before it was put in the bin. In another case, the client’s child mentioned in passing that the house was not being cleaned the way it used to be when the parents had a cleaning lady. We immediately addressed these issues. In both cases, our caregivers had not communicated in sufficient detail how the growing amount of time required to deliver personal care was starting to compete with cleaning the house.

As a home care agency, we are absolutely accountable for documenting all activities and services performed! Please give us a call to find out more about our approach to documenting the care we provide.