Hiring a home health care provider to spend time with your elderly parent is one of the best ways you can help your loved one keep his or her independence for as long as possible. Instead of arranging a move into a care facility, your parent will enjoy more months or years in the familiar surroundings of home, all while receiving second-to-none attentiveness from a health professional. When you're looking for a health provider who can supply one or more aides to visit your parent's home, it's ideal to meet with the prospective candidates before introducing them to your parent. In this initial discussion, it's worthwhile to cover these three important topics.

Challenges Facing Care

Asking the home health care provider about some challenges that he or she expects to encounter with your parent opens the door to allowing the person to demonstrate a high degree of aptitude. First, you'll need to talk about your parent's issues, whether it's simply a lack of mobility or the early onset of dementia. The candidate should address this topic by using examples from experiences with former patients. For example, the provider could suggest that one of the chief challenges facing your immobile parent could be a number of obstacles around the home, and then provide you with solutions on how to better organize the space.

Emergency Situations

While you hope that the home health care provider will never face an emergency situation related to your parent, it's important to cover this topic. Ask the provider about any emergency situations that he or she might expect to eventually encounter with your parent, even if they're minor emergencies, and then assess the aide's approach to dealing with each situation. For example, in the event of a fall, the provider should explain how he or she would quickly determine there's no further risk to the patient and then take the necessary steps, whether it's lifting the patient into a comfortable seat or calling an ambulance.

Personality Type

While you need to remember that the home health care provider you hire is a medical professional, it's also important to consider that he or she will also be playing somewhat of a role of companion for your parent. As such, it's ideal if their personalities suit one another. Ask the aide about past relationships formed with patients and determine whether he or she is largely quiet or prefers to be chatty. Determining this information can help you choose the right candidate for your parent's personality style.

To learn more, contact a company like United Senior Services senior home health care.