As with most things, there is a process involved in selecting and beginning service with the home care service agency that will provide care for your loved one. While the process outlined below isn’t carved in stone, it should serve as a reasonable guideline. It reflects the process Queen City Elder Care prefers, but our service is customized to the particular needs and circumstances of the individual, and may vary.

1. Do a thorough due diligence on the agency. It’s prudent to do your homework on the available agencies in your area.
   
   
2. Meet with one of the owners and the Director of Client Services to get an introduction to the agency and discuss client’s requirements. Review agreements and agency-provided materials to ensure you understand your financial and other obligations. With Queen City Elder Care, you are not locked into a contract related to length of service; you are free to discontinue our services at any time.
   
   
3. Our Director of Client Services will work the first shift with the client in her/his home; preferably, the primary caregiver (most often a family member) should be there as well. The director will get an understanding of the client’s needs, limitations, expectations, preferences, and where all the necessary items are located in the home. Queen City Elder Care uses one of the most comprehensive assessment processes in the industry, to ensure we are properly addressing the client’s needs.
   
   
4. Our Director of Client Services will prepare a written plan of care, detailing the services and timing of various tasks. This plan will be reviewed with the appropriate family member as well as the client. Safety devices for the home may also be suggested to reduce the risk of critical falls.
   
   
5. Queen City Elder Care will assign a caregiver, based on the client’s physical needs and the criteria provided by the client and family member. The agency’s goal is to provide you with consistent caregiver staffing, but depending on the number of hours needed each week, it may be necessary to assign multiple caregivers to meet the federal wage and labor laws. The assigned caregiver(s) will be provided with the plan of care and a complete orientation to the client, family, and the client’s home.
   
   
6. There will be no strangers showing up at your loved one’s home and the family will not have to repeatedly explain things. Our Director of Client Services or Assistant Care Supervisor will accompany the assigned caregiver to the client’s home on their first visit as an introduction and to answer any unforeseen questions that may arise. Our Director of Client Services or Assistant Care Supervisor will work alongside the assigned caregiver on their first shift to ensure complete understanding of the client’s needs and where everything is located. This process will be repeated for any new caregivers that are assigned. All Queen City Elder Care employees will be wearing red scrubs * and a Queen City Elder Care photo ID badge. Upon arrival our caregiver will use the client’s home phone to make a toll-free call to Queen City Elder Care’s automated system to clock in. This call (using state-of-the-art tracing technology) confirms that the caregiver has arrived. Another toll-free call is made at the end of the shift at which time the caregiver inputs the activities performed that day. This system ensures accuracy in billing, as well as enabling real-time verification of the caregiver’s arrival to and departure from the client’s home.
   
   
7. For the first month of service, our Director of Client Services and/or the Assistant Care Supervisor will visit the home weekly to check on the client and caregiver, and to ensure that the plan of care is working as intended or to make any adjustments called for. After the first month these routine visits will be made every two weeks. However, if any unexpected need arises between routine supervisory visits, the Director of Client Services or Assistant Care Supervisor is available to make additional visits. We’re only a phone call away! There is no charge for the visits made by the Director of Client Services or Assistant Care Supervisor unless they are working an actual shift. We are committed to the highest level of service possible, so each time the Director of Client Services or Assistant Care Supervisor makes a supervisory visit, they will use the same clock-in/clock-out technology to verify their visits.
   
   
8. Our Activity Director will make a visit to the client’s home to complete a lifestyle assessment with help from the client and their family member(s). Using the information gathered in this questionnaire, she will develop a schedule of therapeutic activities that are appropriate and meaningful to the client. Adaptations are included so that the client can continue to participate in activities that they have always enjoyed, but may no longer be physically able to do on their own. These therapeutic activities address all aspects of the client’s wellbeing: physical, cognitive, and emotional. It can help give purpose and meaning to their day.