Caregiver theft is, unfortunately, one of the most common concerns before hiring in-home care. Families hesitate when hiring a caregiver, housekeepers, and even plumbers and handypersons. They worry that a senior will be taken advantage of. Sometimes this leads to family spending a lot more time and money than necessary. Moving the loved one into an assisted living facility is time-consuming. So why not just age at home?
Although families try to hire a caregiver that they think they can trust, it is complex as an individual to vet caregivers found on regular job boards. How can you prevent caregiver theft, caregiving fraud, and caregiving scams when dealing with new caregivers that you couldn’t vet?
Secure Valuables Against Caregiver Theft & Use an Inventory List
Before home services begin with a new caregiver, all valuable possessions in the home should be removed or secured away out of plain sight. After securing all valuables, there will be no chance of them disappearing or going missing.
The next step is to create an inventory list that catalogs all valuables. Make sure to record the exact location each item is stored. It is essential to update the inventory list as items are moved, sold, or given to others.
Remember that prescription medications are valuable possessions as well. Pill bottles should be secured in a lockbox. Additionally, it may be helpful to organize doses in a pillbox. Securing these items will reduce the likelihood that anyone takes these valuables.
Monitor Transactions
Secure the senior’s finances by monitoring the transaction activities of their electronic accounts. Indicators of unusual activity include new and increasing charges and missing monthly deposits. Seniors should also limit access to their cash, checkbook, and credit cards. These items may also be secured in a lockbox so that nobody has the opportunity to misuse them. Prepaid debit cards are recommended and may be used to purchase groceries or run errands on behalf of the senior.
Security Cameras
Cameras are affordable, powerful, and useful, especially when living in bigger homes with many rooms or a lot of valuables that can’t be locked away. Strategically place cameras in the common areas throughout the house. This will allow seniors and their families to monitor the situation and protect their property from theft. There are different state laws regarding video and audio recording that should be followed. When using security cameras to supervise anyone working inside your home, those rules should be applied. This approach may also benefit any caregiver when they take on risky jobs as it will give them documentation if there is any dispute or misconduct.
Follow Your Instincts
The last and most important method is to follow your instincts about anyone that sets foot in your home, caregiver or not. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many people are too welcoming, and others have bad intentions. If the senior or family is suspicious about a caregiver’s intentions from the beginning, they should request a different caregiver. A senior and their caregiver should have a relationship based on trust, compassion, and friendship; if that is missing, the senior will be dissatisfied with their overall quality of care and the relationship with their caregiver.
Other tips ensuring the hiring of a great caregiver
What are the options to prevent caregiving scams, caregiving fraud, and caregiver theft?
Hire through a third party
There is nothing worse than wasting your own time and money. Hiring a caregiver directly can be rewarding and is often less expensive. However, the amount of services you get for a little more money will allow you to live more happily in knowing that no matter what happens you’re legally protected and insured.
Companies such as the Helper Bees allow you to select a trustworthy caregiver that matches your personal needs.
When a caregiver becomes suddenly unavailable, you can rest assured that someone else will be able to look after your loved one because the company provides a backup caregiver policy at all times. Furthermore, caregivers hired through a third-party company are thoroughly vetted, and background checks are run to ensure the professionalism of the caregiver.
When hiring a caregiver through a third-party company, you get what you pay for and invest in your loved one’s future.
Regular Check-ins
Performing a regular check-in with both the senior and the caregiver allows the family to keep an eye on the situation in the senior’s home. By performing such checks, you can monitor the performance and the quality of service. Sometimes, the senior grows very fond of the caregiver and will treat them like friends (which is great but can also backfire) as opposed to friendly assistants. That is why it is always important to hire caregivers that maintain a professional attitude yet act social and compassionately throughout their service with the seniors they care for.
Know your options
Always request the assistance of professionals or from people experienced with caregivers when dealing with the hiring of caregivers. When something is different about the behavior of a senior, you should inquire what has changed. Remember that you can hire and fire caregivers based on evidence of unprofessionalism, and ultimately you retain control over who will be looking after your loved ones.
When things go wrong alert, the authorities.
Finally, if you suspect that you have suffered from caregiving fraud, caregiving scam, or caregivers theft, you should contact your local authorities and never try to confront the caregiver. When something goes missing, you should not take that lightly and immediately notify the authorities of the suspicion of theft. Similarly, if credit cards report fraudulent activity, you should immediately call your bank and ask them what your next steps are.
There are many options out there: whether it’s an assisted living facility, a traditional care agency, or an innovative platform that looks after the interests of caregivers and seniors like the Helper Bees. Finding care is easy; finding the best reliable care is hard.
