The Tour and Interview: What to Look For in the Room

Choosing a home support agency is a decision you will live with for a long time, so it deserves more than a single phone call. The tour and the interview are where you find out what the agency is actually like. Plan to ask every agency the same questions, in the same order, so that you can compare the answers side by side.

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.

Before you visit

Write down what the person needs help with, which hours are hardest, and which rooms the helper will use. Bring that list with you. It keeps the conversation on your household rather than on the agency's standard pitch.

What to look at on the tour

Look at how the office is run. Are the schedules and the notes kept in order? Ask to see the written care plan template and a sample of the notes a helper writes after a visit. Ask how a complaint is recorded and who reads it.

Questions about the people

Ask how the helpers are chosen, what training they receive before their first visit, and what that training covers about memory changes in plain, everyday terms. Ask how often a supervisor visits the home, and whether the supervisor is the same person you will call. Ask what happens when a helper is sick and cannot come.

Questions about the plan

Ask how the written plan is made and how often it is updated. Ask how changes are requested, how quickly they take effect, and how notice is given if the agency decides to change the helper. Ask what the agreement says about leaving the arrangement, and how that is done.

Questions about the hard hours

Ask what happens during the hardest part of the day, and what happens late at night. Ask how after-hours calls are answered, and who the family speaks to if a visit goes badly. The answers should be concrete. Vague answers are a signal to slow down.

Warning signs

Be cautious if you are pressed to sign on the first visit, if no written plan is offered, or if the answers change depending on who is asked. Be cautious too if the agency cannot say clearly what its helpers do not do.

To see how this site compares agencies and what it looks for, read How this site compares agencies. Nothing in this guide recommends any one agency. Health questions go to the family's doctor, and the interview is the time to confirm that the agency understands that line.