Does anyone know of anyone that is looking for a room in exchange for elderly care? My dad is 79 years old, has lost 17 pounds in a month.

I provide 24/7 care for my 99-year-old Mother. I believe $50,000 yearly would not compensate me for what I do. A room is not enough. People in my area charge $25 per hour and up. Add that up. Depending upon company, it's from $400 to $600 a day. Why should someone work for free, room or no room?

I agree it's not realistic to expect someone to take on caregiving duties in exchange only for room and board. But maybe it could work for some limited hours IF you could find a trustworthy and responsible person who has impeccable references.

Years ago the local Luthern Family Services had a service that matched elderly people in need of care with a responsible person who needed housing. I knew a couple who utilized the service successfully for four years until they died.  They provided room and board to a middle-aged woman in exchange for, I believe, eleven hours of caregiving support weekly. Any additional hours beyond that were to be negotiated between the care recipients and the caregiver. Luthern Family Services screened the caregiver and I assume did a background check on her. 

In this case, I know my elderly friends were fortunate to have a truly caring person to help out with dr. appts, errand running (in the couple's car), and various other tasks. After the wife died, this caregiver took on more and more hours caring for the widowed husband who had significant health issues.

Luthern Family Services discontinued this service in our area long ago.  I don't know the reason, but suspect not all the match-ups worked as well as they did for my friends and their caregiver.

Please be very careful who you bring into your parents' home. Family or friends should visit often to check on their welfare. There have been terrible stories in the news of vulnerable, elderly people being neglected, abused, and robbed by their live-in caregivers.   And a background check is absolutely necessary. I know of another family who were ready to hire a seemingly wonderful caregiver -- until the background check revealed her police record.

KCarrillo, a live-in person would eventually be doing the work of 3 full-time caregivers each day, but without pay. How would that caregiver paid his/her own bills, such as health insurance, clothing, food, car expenses, personal care cost, etc?

I found it worked much better to have 3 shifts of caregivers, each of which go home at the end of their shift, thus be refreshed the next day. Yes, that would be expensive. In my area, it would cost $20k for professional caregivers from a licensed agency that is bonded, insured, and offer workman comp for their employees.

Your parents would need to purchase a workman comp insurance policy for any employee who does not come from a licensed agency. Also the caregiver would need to have his/her flu shot and a recent TB test. Plus you would need to do a background check.

I think the only kind of person you would find that would accept just a room in return for 24/7 care of two people would be someone you couldn't trust not to abuse them or steal them blind. You would have to provide some compensation. If you live near a college/university, maybe a student would like to live off campus and could provide a few hours of care but, again, I think you would need to offer some compensation, especially if they are to use their own vehicle and gas to transport your parents to run errands and go to their medical appointments.

Would you think about or even consider accepting room and board for 24/7 care for two elderly? If an agency were to provide a live in, you would likely pay more than 12k a month and that person would have vacation, social security and other typical costs paid by the employer.

Would you do it?