GUIDELINES FOR CLIENTS IN RECEIVING HELPING HANDS SERVICES
What we do and don’t do
The attached sheet describes in fair detail those things which you may expect Helping Hands caregivers to do in providing services to you, and those things caregivers are generally not expected to do.
There are always exceptions to rules, of course, so if you have a service need that is either not addressed in the attached outline or which our caregivers are generally prohibited from doing, please call the office and let us know. Perhaps we may find a way to work things out to help you out.
Work schedules, hours and time sheets
While in a few cases it is perfectly all right for clients and caregivers together to decide upon schedules of hours to be worked by the caregivers, as a general rule we expect that both caregivers and clients will discuss work schedules, changes in schedules, etc., with our office staff. There are a number of different reasons for this, not the least of which is that office staff need to know in case there is a need for backup to provide the services you need.
Time sheets cover one week’s worth of services and serve as a basis for both wages paid to caregivers for their work and charges made to clients and/or insurance for their services. Consequently, it is extremely important that time sheets be filled out correctly, that they reflect only those hours actually worked (caregivers are in attendance at your home/facility), and that they be signed by both you and the caregivers.
Normally, caregivers take care of filling out and maintaining time sheets for the hours that they work. However, if desired, it is perfectly permissible for clients to maintain and fill out our time sheets for the week and then have the caregivers sign and turn them into the office. Alternately, we encourage clients to maintain their own records of times worked by caregivers, in the event that questions should arise.
CLIENTS SHOULD NOT, UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, SIGN OFF ON HOURS NOT ACTUALLY WORKED BY CAREGIVERS, NOR ACCEPT A CAREGIVERS PROPOSAL TO “MAKE UP” HOURS NOT WORKED ONE WEEK IN THE FOLLOWING WEEK, OR AT SOME OTHER LATER TIME.
All kinds of situations can arise in which a caregiver is unable to work particular scheduled hours, either with or without advance notice, or to fulfill certain job duties. Whatever the circumstances, it is always our desire to see that you receive the services you want and need, and we always stand ready to do everything possible to find another caregiver to fill in scheduled hours, or perform certain job duties, when such situations occur. However, we can’t do anything if we don’t know what is going on, so it is extremely important that clients call the office whenever a caregiver is going to be absent, doesn’t show up for work, or is unable to do something that needs to be done.
If you have any questions at all about work scheduling, hours to be worked, or time sheets, please call the office and discuss it with one of our staff.
Client and caregiver relationships
Many of our long-term clients and caregivers develop deep and lasting friendships over the courses of their relationships, which we fully appreciate and support. However, and at the same time, there are general boundaries and limits within these interpersonal relationships which should rarely or never be breached.
All of the clients we serve deserve nothing but the highest degree of respect, kindness, consideration, and courteousness from our caregivers. Abuse or neglect of a client in any form is never acceptable, and should this ever occur with any of our caregivers we want to know about it immediately and in full detail. By the same token, our caregivers deserve nothing but the same kind of treatment from our clients. Again, abuse of a caregiver is never acceptable, and should this ever occur we reserve the right to terminate services to the offending client immediately, without notice.
As in all walks of life, there are some individuals more capable of doing particular things than others, and some individuals whose personalities “click” with ours more than others. We make every effort to try to match our caregivers with the clients we serve, both in terms of the duties that need to be performed and in terms of personality types. However, this is normally not an easy thing to do, and on occasion we fail to fulfill our goal. When this occurs, and for whatever reasons we fail to meet your expectations in a caregiver, we ask that you call our office and let us know. Without placing blame upon either you or the caregiver, we’ll make every effort to find another who better fits the bill. If this becomes impossible, we’ll gladly recommend that you might do better seeking services from another agency.
paycheck for too few hours of work in a week it is all-too-often a matter of urgent concern. Consequently, on occasion, some caregivers may be tempted to ask their clients for gifts or loans of money, and/or clients may be tempted to offer or agree to such gifts or loans of money. However, in the first instance, it is against Helping Hands policy and never appropriate for a caregiver to ask a client for money, and such requests should always be denied. In the second instance, it may occasionally be appropriate for a client to offer a gift or loan of money to a caregiver, but only under certain circumstances. Consequently, we urge our clients to always report any requests by our caregivers for money to our office staff, and to discuss any thought of giving a caregiver money with our office staff before actually doing so.
Keeping the office informed
Many of our clients and caregivers enjoy excellent communications, which we wholeheartedly endorse and encourage. In other cases, communications may leave much to be desired. However, in either and/or both cases, we cannot emphasize enough to both caregivers and clients the need to keep the office fully informed of everything that transpires between clients and caregivers relative to the services that Helping Hands provides. So, please, keep us informed as best you can, and we’ll do everything we can to keep you happy with our services.
Our normal office hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and we can be reached at the office during those times. If you are calling after office hours our answering service will answer your call. If it is urgent that you get hold of us, they will contact the administrative staff person who is on call to handle after hours problems, and that person will call you back. Otherwise, the service will take a message and convey it to us the next business day.
CAREGIVER SERVICES PROVIDED AND PROHIBITED
HOMEMAKING
Caregivers will:
Clean living areas, including dusting, vacuuming, cleaning walls and ceilings, cleaning bathrooms, and washing windows as needed to maintain sanitary living conditions.
Clean kitchen, including oven, stove and refrigerator, and wash dishes and appliances as needed to maintain sanitary living conditions.
Make beds and change linens as needed.
Do laundry, including washing, drying, folding and putting up as needed. Ironing may be included if required.
Plan, prepare, cook and serve meals to meet daily dietary needs.
Remind and encourage clients to eat and/or assist/feed clients, as may be necessary to maintain dietary needs.
Perform errands, such as shopping for groceries and household supplies, picking up prescriptions and medical supplies, and so on.
Perform storage tasks as needed, such as putting groceries away, etc.
Do such other duties and tasks that are agreed upon by the client and the agency, which may be necessary to assist clients in maintaining self-sufficiency.
Caregivers generally will not:
Do heavy or deep cleaning, such as shampooing carpets, stripping/waxing floors, cleaning stained shower tile/grout, washing outside windows, cleaning storage areas, cleaning ovens using chemical products, etc.
Do any overhead cleaning or tasks requiring the use of a stepstool or ladder.
Clean up after pets, including cleaning out cages, litter boxes, or cleaning up waste in yards.
Do yard work.
Do repair work on fixtures or appliances.
Transport Yavapai County Long Term Care member clients to do shopping, run errands, etc.
Provide cleaning equipment or supplies.
PERSONAL CARE
Caregivers will:
Assist clients with performing activities of daily living and personal hygiene, including showering, bathing, toileting, dressing, shampooing, grooming, oral care, trimming finger and toenails (unless client is diabetic or has circulatory problems), and applying lotions.
Assist with routine ambulation activities and/or with transferring to and from a wheelchair, bed shower, tub, and toilet. This may include the use of mechanical devices, such as a Hoyer lift.
Assist with adaptive equipment, assistive devices, special appliances and/or prosthetic devices, if the procedures is routine and well-established.
Assist movement-restricted clients with tasks necessary for comfort and safety, which do not require medical or nursing supervision.
Assist with the self-administration of medication, including reminding clients to take medication, assisting alert clients with the opening of medication containers, and/or with transferring medications from pill-minders to pill cups.
Accompany clients to medical and other necessary appointments and assist with paperwork, instructions, etc. If the client is a Yavapai County Long Term Care Member, transportation to such appointments must be by contracted non-emergency transportation providers as authorized in advance by Care Managers, and not in either the Member’s or the caregiver’s private vehicle.
Transport, accompany, and/or assist private pay clients to appointments, to run errands, to go shopping, and so on. Transportation in such cases may be in the client’s or the caregiver’s private vehicle, as long as the vehicle used is properly licensed and insured.
Serve food, remind clients to eat, and assist them with eating, as necessary.
Encourage the support and assistance of family members and friends, when and where possible and appropriate.
Caregivers generally will not:
Assist with ambulation and/or perform single-person transfers which are likely to be unsafe and may result in injury to the client and/or the caregiver.
Assist with new, non-routine, adaptive equipment, assistive devices, special appliances and/or prosthetic devices, or where the caregiver has not been adequately and appropriately trained in providing such assistance.
Assist in any activities or tasks which are medical in nature, which require special medical training, which are penetrating to or invasive of the physical body, and/or which require medical or nursing supervision.
Administer prescription medications in any forms to clients, including putting medications into pill minders and pouring medication dosages into measuring or treatment devices (e.g., spoons, med cups, vaporizers, etc.)
Force clients to eat, take medications, exercise, or do anything they do not wish to do.
Perform fiduciary tasks for clients in handling money and/or property, beyond that necessary to do shopping, etc., according to established procedures.
Handle, interfere, or become involved in family relationship matters and problems, beyond reporting problematic circumstances and situations to administrative staff.
ATTENDANT CARE AND RESPITE CARE
Generally, Attendant Care and Respite Care are all-inclusive of the above directions and prohibitions, but may also be more inclusive of activities of companionship and social stimulation.
Family Attendant Care and other special situations may involve caregivers in doing things, performing procedures, engaging in activities, etc., which are not included or are prohibited by the above provisions. This is permissible and does not present a problem as long as it is understood that such things are not done by a caregiver as a Helping Hands employee, during scheduled hours of employment, but as a family member, friend, and/or private employee of the client during times that are “off the Helping Hands clock.”
ANY AND ALL ACTIVITIES OR PROCEDURES THAT ARE NOT EXPRESSLY MENTIONED, OR THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED IN THE ABOVE PROVISIONS, ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO BE PERFORMED BY HELPING HANDS CAREGIVERS, AND ARE NOT COVERED BY HELPING HANDS INSURANCE AND/OR BOND.
