We are thinking of trying to find someone who would live in and help care for mom who is 83 and has dementia. We have a full time gal but mom is a handful. The second person would live rent free and only have to help out part time to get the free rent.
Has anyone done this and is it successful? We really want to keep her at home.
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