Live in care for Mom; Has anyone done this and is it successful?

live-in caregivers are a slippery slope. You have to pay them in addition to free room and board. If mom should pass away or you need to fire the caregiver for performance issues or a personality clash, you have to do it legally, they may have certain rights and protections and you won’t be able to send them packing right away. And then there is the question of how honest and reliable they are.

I would think twice about a live in. There are some harrowing stories about live in in this forum. Moving family in. Stealing. Won't leave when person passes or needs to be placed elsewhere.

I think you are setting yourself and your Mom up for a seriously bad time. What do you consider "full time". If there is two people already providing full time care...that would be 8 hours each...that still leaves the 8 hours over night. If there is only one other person....how much of the remaining 16 hours do you think this person will do? Believe me there is no way to say that Mom isn't going to be a handful after the first 10 hours each day......but...let's say you already have 2 people to cover 16 hours.....

the going rate for livein care is $25 per hour. So..if this person is the only caregiver there over night...figure $200 per night. Multiply by 30 days. $6000. Now subtract reasonable rent and food and 1/2 utilities....I guess you would still be paying $4000 per month

So...how will this caregiver feel when all you are providing is free rent and board? Taken advantage of. What sort of care do you think your Mom will receive? For that to be fair it would be only 80 hours per month....or about 2.5 hours per day. What happens when the demand for the caregivers time is greater than that? Who will come and handle it when the livein has already worked 2.5 hours that night?

Do not think that taking care of an elderly dementia patient isn't real work! Often times the work environment is so stressful the caregiver burns out no matter what pay. Also...consider the over night shift it the toughest! Sundown syndrome is very real and very VERY hard to deal with. I rarely got a night of sleep taking care of my Dad overnight.

think this through carefully. Trying to go cheap is probably going to end badly

Even part-time, most people would expect a small salary.