This article (or any other that you want to find) is the latest in a long list of tales of family home caregivers who have abused or neglected their clients.  It is a sad thing, and something that is hard for most of us to imagine.  Unfortunately it is a reality.  This is also why hiring an Elder Care Agency is so important in Oklahoma (or any other state for that matter.)

1.  We do background checks on all employees, and this includes checklists of people who have been connected with senior adult abuse before.

2.  We use technology to make sure that our in-home caregivers are at work.  (Check out this post on our blog for more details.)  Not showing up for work (or not working the full set of hours) is one of the easiest ways to cheat the system especially when you are working with Senior Adults with Alzheimer’s or dementia.  Typically, the caregiver and the client are at a home alone, and whether or not the caregiver came to work, then they came to work, and when they left is taken on faith.  Not so with an agency like ours.  Technology pinpoints who is where, when they got there and when they leave.  That’s a huge way to prevent fraud and abuse.

3.  We take the time to oversee the caregivers.  We do an assessment before care starts and periodically do it again.  We know the warning signs that something isn’t quite right and will follow-up.