Personal Care Attendants, Part 1
Tips on finding and hiring personal care attendants.
There are an estimated 58 million people in the country with a disability. Personal Care Attendants can help them remain in their own homes instead of in nursing homes.
What/Who Is a Personal Care Attendant
A Personal Care Attendant (PCA) is a person who assists an individual with a disability or other health care needs with activities of daily living. A person with a physical, sensory or cognitive disability hires a PCA to assist them with tasks such as bathing, dressing, housecleaning, meal preparation, feeding and more. The services that a PCA provides may enable the individual to remain at home rather than in a nursing or group home.
A PCA can be anyone from a registered nurse to a friend or a neighbor. Any caring individual with a desire to help others can become a PCA. PCA’s can be live-in or can come to the individual’s home. Some PCA programs will allow boyfriends/girlfriends to work as PCA’s.
Preparing To Hire a PCA
Finding a PCA can be a daunting task. You need to prepare for the process. Begin by calling your local Center for Independent Living to get information and assistance, but keep in mind that you are not their only client and don’t rely on them to do all the work. In her book Avoiding Attendants from Hell: A Practical Guide to Finding, Hiring & Keeping Personal Care Attendants,author June Price suggests that your first step after contacting a CIL should be to make a complete list of your personal care needs
After your list is made, start advertising. Many CIL’s will run an ad in the local paper for you, but the best advertising and recruitment tool is word of mouth. Tell friends and family that you are looking. Post flyers on church and grocery store bulletin boards. Ask to make a short announcement at church, a recreation center or at a club or organization to which you belong.
Hiring & Interviewing
After you have recruited several PCA’s, it is time for interviews (p. 34). Many CIL’s suggest that you conduct the interviews at a neutral location, such as a small café. Once you have selected a few that seem compatible with you, I suggest conducting the final interview in your home. This allows you to conduct a “hands-on” interview to determine which candidate is best able to meet your physical needs (transferring, etc).
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