Family Guide · No. 01

Is it time for
home care?

A checklist of the changes families notice first, and what each one usually means.

Very few families arrive at this decision after a single event. Far more often it accumulates: a fall that turned out to be the third one, a fridge with spoiled food in it, a parent who has stopped answering the phone in the evenings. Each change is small enough to explain away on its own.

This guide is a way of looking at those changes together instead of one at a time. Work through the five sections below and mark what you actually observe, not what you fear. At the end there is a short section on what to do with the result.

How to use this

Fill it in over a week rather than in one sitting. If two or more people know the situation, complete it separately and compare. Differences between your answers are usually the most useful part.

Personal care and daily routine

Bathing or showering has become infrequent, rushed, or is being avoided

The same clothes are worn several days running, or clothing is soiled

Hair, nails, shaving or oral care have visibly slipped

Getting dressed takes far longer than it used to, or help is needed

There have been continence accidents, or worry about them is limiting activity

Day and night have started to blur — sleeping through mornings, awake at 3am

The home itself

Dishes, laundry or rubbish are piling up in a way they never did before

Expired or spoiled food is in the fridge; the same groceries are bought repeatedly

Post is unopened, or bills have gone unpaid

Burn marks on cookware, a scorched tea towel, or the stove left on

Rooms are being closed off and life has contracted into one chair or one bedroom

Health and safety

There has been a fall, a near-fall, or new unexplained bruising

Furniture and walls are being used to get around the house

Medications are missed, doubled, or the pill organiser no longer matches the day

Appointments are being forgotten or cancelled

Noticeable weight loss, or meals reduced to tea and toast

Driving has become worrying — new scrapes, getting lost, or others declining to ride along

Mood and connection

This section is the one families most often skip, and the one that most often turns out to matter. Isolation is not a comfort issue; it measurably affects health.

Friends, church, clubs or standing plans have quietly dropped away

Days pass with no conversation other than with family on the phone

Hobbies, television or reading have stopped without a new interest replacing them

New irritability, flatness, anxiety or reluctance to leave the house

Repeated calls or questions, or the same story told several times in a visit

The family caregiver

If you are the one filling this in, answer this section about yourself. Care arrangements fail as often from caregiver exhaustion as from a change in the client.

You are using annual leave, sick days or unpaid time off to provide care

You have not had a full day away from caregiving in a month or more

Your own sleep, health or appointments are being deferred

You are doing personal care tasks that neither of you is comfortable with

You feel resentful, guilty or frightened more often than not

Reading your answers

1–3

Keep watching, and put a date in the calendar to fill this in again in six to eight weeks. This is a good moment to have the conversation early, while nothing is urgent and your relative can lead the decision.

4–8

A few hours of help a week usually addresses this range, and addresses it cheaply. Companion care, meal preparation, cleaning support and appointment reminders are the common starting point.

Arrange an assessment rather than continuing to manage it informally. At this level the risk is usually a fall or a missed medication, and both are cheaper to prevent than to recover from.

Any item in section 03 on its own is worth a call. Falls, medication errors and driving are the three areas where waiting has the highest cost.

Having the conversation

The most common mistake is opening with a conclusion. “You need help” invites a defence. Naming one specific observation and asking a question does not.

Tends to work

Start with one observation, not a list
Offer help with a task, not supervision of a person
Frame it as keeping them at home, which is usually the shared goal
Begin with a short trial — a few hours a week, reviewed after a month
Let them meet the caregiver and have a say in the match

Tends to backfire

A family meeting they did not know was coming
Presenting a decision already made
Comparisons to someone else’s parent
Raising it during or straight after a crisis
Framing cost as the deciding factor before options are known

What happens if you call us

A conversation, at no cost and with no obligation. We ask what a normal day looks like and what worries you most.

An in-home assessment. We look at daily needs and safety, and confirm which service line and payment source fit.

A written plan of care and a caregiver match, made for schedule and personality as well as task.

Ongoing supervision, with the plan updated as needs change. If a match is not working we say so and change it.

Talk it through

(614) 623-0974

fizacarellc@yahoo.com · Philip Amissah, Director

Fiza Care LLC is an Ohio-certified provider of HPC services, shared living, non-medical transportation, community transition and respite care across Central Ohio.

This guide is general information for families and is not medical advice or an assessment. It does not establish eligibility for any waiver or benefit. Speak with a physician about clinical concerns, and with us or your county case manager about services.

Is it time forhome care?