Assessment
Before signing a contract with a homecare agency, an assessment will be made to determine the needs of the person who requires care. Many companies offer this service for free. During an assessment, an agency representative will visit your loved one in the home or at the hospital. The agency representative will ask questions and look around the house if needed. The following issues should be assessed by both interview and observation:

Physical health
Medication use
Amount of aid needed with ADLs or IADLs
Mental health
Home safety
Quality of life
The idea behind an assessment is to figure out what your loved one requires on a basic health and safety level, while maintaining a high quality of life. For example, if it's apparent that the elderly person isn't getting out of the house much, but has no physical issues with leaving the home, the assessment might note that individual's social contacts, and activities that interest him or her, and make recommendations for augmenting that person's social life.

Care Plan
The assessment provides the basis for a care plan. A care plan is a document that explains the client's needs, and how to meet them. A care plan should be reassessed by an agency on a monthly basis and as needed. A care plan:

Increases consistency of care (this is exceptionally important when multiple caregivers must interact with each other)
Sets priorities and goals for an individual's care
Acts as a reference to aid in measuring an individual's progress
Contract
Homecare agencies will have you sign a contract. These contracts can be changed and amended, so before signing it, think about whether there are certain verbal promises that should be written into the contract. For example, if an agency promises you that a replacement caregiver will be provided within a certain timeframe if the primary caregiver is sick or must be absent for a day, you may want to have the agency add that detail to the contract.

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