Most families plan the help and forget the house. A helper arrives to a home that has changed since the last visit: a lamp has burned out, a path is blocked by a laundry basket, a door has started to stick. The person you care for may not notice. The helper may not know the house yet. Someone in the family needs to own the check.
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.
A short walkthrough once a week, finished before the helper arrives, keeps the house easy to read. It takes about fifteen minutes and needs only a flashlight and a pencil. Nothing here requires special skills.
Walk the route the person uses most
Start at the front door and walk the path the person you care for uses most, such as bed to bathroom, kitchen to chair, and chair to the door. Look for anything on the floor: loose rugs, cords across the path, boxes stacked at the edge. Check that each light along the route works. Replace bulbs now, not after dark.
Notice where the light switches are and whether they are easy to reach from the bed. A night light that is plugged in and working is worth more than a nice lamp that nobody can find in the dark.
Check the doors, the phone, and the spare key
Try each outside door. Make sure it opens, closes, and locks the way the family has agreed. Confirm where the spare key is kept and who holds it. If the helper will need to find it, the helper should know where to look before the first visit.
Keep the phone charged and in the same spot every week. Test that the speaker works and that the numbers the family has agreed on are easy to see. A phone that is charged but hidden under a pile of mail is not much help.
Stock the rooms the helper will use
Look at the bathroom, the kitchen, and the chair where the helper sits with the person you care for. Are the towels clean and folded in their usual place? Is there dish soap, a clean cloth, and a fresh trash bag? Is the stove off, with the knobs in their usual positions? Note what is running low, but leave the decisions about buying and ordering to the family.
Write it on one sheet the next person can read
Keep a single page on the refrigerator or by the door. List the path lights, the outside locks, the spare key location, the phone, and the supplies. Put a check mark beside each item along with the initials of the person who checked it. A helper who sees a blank line knows to ask. A family member who sees a full sheet knows the house is ready.
The sheet also helps when more than one person shares the work. Nobody has to remember what the others did. They only have to read the page.
When something is wrong
If a light will not work, a lock will not catch, or a path is blocked in a way you cannot clear in a few minutes, write it on the sheet and tell the helper directly before the visit begins. Do not leave a broken item for the helper to solve alone. If the fix needs a repair person, the family decides when and how that happens.
For a sense of how a visit usually unfolds from start to finish, see A Day of Support at Home. For keeping the daily order steady when memory changes come up, see Keeping Routine as Memory Slips.
Health questions go to the family's doctor. This walkthrough is about the house, not about anyone's health. No agency mentioned here judges health or provides medical care.