Looking for Help with Caregiving and Housecleaning

Burlington VT

Description

My sweet, gentle dad has an advanced neurodegenerative disease that causes both motor and cognitive impairment. While he has 24/7 home care through an agency, the caregiver shifts change frequently and he is often disoriented by being woken in the mornings by people whom he doesn’t know well. We believe that he would benefit from having a regular morning caregiver whom he would come to know and trust to help him get his days off to a better start. We’re looking for a kind, competent, reliable person to come to our home 4-5 mornings per week to help him bathe and dress and prepare his breakfast. We also need help with cleaning, shopping, and other errands – both related to my dad’s care and for our busy four-person household in general. The most important qualifications for this job are for you to pass a background and reference check, for my dad to like you, and for you to be available between 9 and 11 in the mornings (including Saturdays if at all possible). Other than that, we are very flexible. Professional experience with caregiving and/or cleaning are a definite plus, but not necessary – we will train the right person. Except for the morning routine with my dad, the schedule can also be flexible. The job would be 15-20 hours per week, split about evenly between caregiving, cleaning, and errands (we can negotiate a total number of hours that makes sense for you and us) but except for the morning routine with my dad, those hours can happen at any time. My dad is courteous and easy to deal with. Despite his cognitive issues, he is never abusive to his caregivers. You will never be asked to help with toileting or “accident” clean-up because the other caregivers would continue to be present 24/7, even while you’re working with my dad. Pandemic considerations: We are all fully vaccinated and are very careful to minimize our outside exposure. We wear masks in the “public” parts of our home except when we’re eating or exercising in our workout space to help protect my dad and his caregivers from COVID. Likewise, you must be fully vaccinated and be willing to wear a mask in our home for as long as health conditions require it. We would expect that you’d also exercise appropriate caution in other spaces (i.e. wear a mask in the supermarket, etc.) so as not to bring COVID to my dad. You must have a valid driver’s license. Finally, you must like animals, as we have a dog and two cats who will like you. We will pay above-market rates for the right person.