When the person you care for lives on more than one floor, the visit plan has to follow the house, not just the calendar. A helper who spends the visit on the stairs has less time for the person, and a plan that ignores the basement often leaves the laundry undone for weeks.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Sketch the house before you call

Draw a simple page with each floor, each doorway, the bathroom, the kitchen, the laundry, and the stairs. Mark where the person you care for usually sits, sleeps, and eats. Then mark the trips a helper would make in a normal visit. This sketch is the easiest thing to hand an office, and it shows gaps you would otherwise miss.

What the stairs change

Every trip up or down takes time, attention, and sometimes a second person. Ask the office how it plans visits in a house with stairs. Will the helper arrange the day so the person does not climb alone? Will the helper watch for a loose rail, a gate left open, or a rug at the foot of the steps? Ask the office to put those answers in writing.

If the family is thinking about a stair rail, a chair for the stairs, or a safety gate, ask the office whether it wants that equipment in place before the first visit. Do not assume the office will supply it.

The basement, the laundry, and the trash

Chores on another floor are the ones that quietly disappear. Decide in writing whether a trip to a basement laundry belongs to a visit. Decide whether a helper carries heavy loads or whether that falls to the family. Trash to the curb, the back steps in rain or ice, and the mail on the porch are the same kind of question.

Where the helper waits

Some homes have a room the person rarely uses, so a helper may spend part of the visit on a different floor. Ask where the helper is expected to be during a quiet hour and how they should check in. Ask what happens if the person you care for moves to another floor while the helper is downstairs.

A checklist to bring to the office

Bring the sketch and the answers to these questions. Which floor is the person on for most of the day? Which rooms need a helper for a task, and which are simply passed through? Which chores live on a different level from the person? Who is responsible for the steps in bad weather? What is the plan if a helper is sick and a replacement has to climb the same stairs?

For a plain picture of how a visit runs from start to finish, read A Day of Support at Home and compare it with your sketch.