What Care Seekers Go Through
It’s about 8:00pm and my elderly father’s caregiver called to let me know that she can no longer make it tomorrow. His other caregiver is out of town. I just need to find someone to go over tomorrow from 1:00 to 3:00pm to make him eggs, his favorite, for lunch. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?
I call an agency that I used previously. Closed. I call another agency that my friend uses. Closed. But, they have an after-hours number listed on their voicemail! I call it. No answer. I leave a voicemail.
I Google caregiving sites near my father’s house and start calling them one by one. At this point I have left voicemails and email messages for numerous caregiving companies. Suddenly, I receive a response email providing me with more suggestions for places to call. Thank you! I give the first place a call and someone answers the phone. A kind voice tells me that their caregivers can only provide help if I commit to a long-term relationship with them. I only need someone for tomorrow, so I decline. The next company also answers, and a very rude lady laughs at me as I ask for last minute care. Another company also answers, but they tell me that they would need to call me back in the morning. Having made every call I could at this point and not reaching many agencies after hours, I go to (a very sleepless) sleep.
As morning arrives, I start receiving phone calls returning my calls from the previous night. Fantastic, I need to book care soon! The first company refuses to talk with me further as I am not currently in their system. I start to realize I need to tell companies I may consider them long term if things go well. This works for the next company, and a polite woman explains to me that she may be able to find me a caregiver for later today, but only if she can complete an in-home assessment first at his home. That’s no good, there’s barely any time left! She also explains that the rates will need to be much, much higher to accommodate the short notice, and that I would need to pay for transportation as well. Another company provides me with the same information and explains how they cannot send a caregiver until the assessment and HIPAA documents are completed. Assessments? HIPAA? It’s just eggs!
With such little time left, I succumb to what I have been trying to avoid: paying a monthly subscription fee to a national service where I can find caregivers available on short notice. I pay for only one month of service, the most expensive value, because I just need to find someone for tomorrow. It’s roughly $40. Immediately after paying I’m directed to a screen for suggested add-ons, totaling about $15 more per month. I ignore these.
I post a job to the site. While waiting for a response, I browse a list of caregivers near my father who all say they are available on short notice. I click on a highly-rated caregiver and notice her background check is not on file. I request it and get a notification to pay about $60 for it. I move onto the next caregiver who has a background check already on file. I click on it but get a notification that I will receive it in 3-5 days. That’s no good.
I find a caregiver who is highly rated, has a background check on file (although I cannot view it), and has a calendar that shows they are available today from 9am to 4pm. Perfect! I click to schedule her and pay her hourly rate! Done! Thank goodness! I breath a sigh of relief.
Wait a minute. What’s this “requested” status that still appears on my booking? I keep refreshing, waiting for her to accept. She’ll get back to me soon, right? This site claims to be able to provide services right away.
A half hour goes by, and still no response. It’s 10:30am so I book another caregiver. Same issue. I book seven more caregivers and wait for any response. I even offer some close to 3x the typical rate. Still no response. It doesn’t even look like they’ve logged onto the site for a while! I check my job posting. Still no response!
It’s almost 12pm. What do I do?!
I call up work to let them know I am unable to come in today, and get ready to head to my father’s house to help him with his lunch.
[Based on a true story]