The Helper Agreement Lists Its Verbs: Check the Reminders, the Errands, and What Stays With the Family

When a hired helper comes in for the evening or the night, the agreement you sign is the one page that says, in plain words, what that person is there to do. Read it the way you would read a shopping list. Each verb on the page is a job someone will be expected to do at dusk, and each job you do not see written down is one that may be assumed by someone and claimed by no one. Your task is to match each verb to the hours you actually need covered.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Check the reminders and the errands

A non-medical helper can usually give medication reminders and pick up prescriptions as an errand. Look for those words, and look for the time of day each one is due. If the paper says reminders, ask what a reminder looks like in practice: a phone call, a note on the counter, or a person standing in the kitchen at the right minute. If the paper says errands, check whether the pharmacy pickup is included, how it is paid for, and where the receipt goes.

Check what stays with the family

Look for the line that says who gives, sorts, and manages medicine. That work stays with the family, the doctor, and the pharmacist, and the agreement should say so plainly. If it is silent on this, add a line in your own handwriting and have both of you initial it. A helper who knows the boundary is easier to rely on than one who is guessing at it.

Check the hours against the walk

Put your finger on the start and end times and hold them up against the late-day window in your own notes. Dusk is often the hardest stretch of the day, and an agreement that starts the helper at nine at night leaves the evening walk with no one holding it. Confirm the helper is on the clock for the stretch when she is most likely to try the door, and confirm what the helper should do if the walk starts before the shift begins.

Check the replacement and the notice

Find the clause that says what happens when the helper is sick, late, or unable to continue. It should name who you call and how much notice is expected. Keep a copy in the folder with the emergency numbers, and make sure whoever is on the phone at night can find it without you. For the phone numbers and local help to put in that folder, see Lifelines: Dementia Help in St. Louis.