Having a caregiver in your home is not your usual social situation and can feel awkward. Navigating the etiquette may be one of the underlying objections to getting a caregiver in your home. So, we’ve broken it down into five simple etiquette rules. You’ll see that these are all common-sense (but often overlooked) and designed to make you and the caregiver comfortable in the situation.
Qualified caregivers are trained in how to respect your privacy, wishes and dignity. With good training and orientation, they’ll understand what you want. They’re there to help you to continue living life on your terms.

Our Five Simple Etiquette Rules When Having a Caregiver in Your Home
1. Take time to set a good foundation with an introduction and establishing expectations.
Having a caregiver in your home means having someone in your personal space. You don’t want that person to be a stranger. The introduction helps you both get to know each other. A good home care company will focus on that introduction. They won’t simply send a stranger out to your home cold. That’s why our supervisor always does an introductory visit with the caregiver and client/family.

2. Offer a proper work environment.
Safety and Comfort
Caregivers typically do a lot of physical labor. They need a healthy, safe environment to do this work for you.

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3. Explain (over-explain) how you want things done and do it often.
People need messages repeated for them to sink in and take action. Don’t worry about being repetitive. It can be done nicely. And, your caregiver will appreciate having clear direction.

4. Discuss major variations from the care plan (job description) before asking the caregiver to do unexpected tasks.
Caregivers tend to be some of the most helpful people in the world. They will go out of the way to make you happy. And, you may come to rely on them and build a close relationship. So, it is easy to find yourself asking them to help with all kinds of things. It puts them in an awkward position when you start asking for things beyond their scope, like for extreme clutter or deep cleaning.

5. Be nice.
We end with the most important “etiquette rule” and the one that will yield you the best experience. If you don’t treat your caregiver with respect, Good caregivers work for good people. It’s as simple as that.