How Many Hours of Home Care Does My Parent Need?
When families first consider home care for an aging parent, one of the first questions is often: How many hours of care do we really need?
Many families start small. They may envision a caregiver coming for two or three hours, two or three times a week—just enough to provide companionship, do some light housekeeping, or help with transportation. That sounds reasonable, especially when a parent is resistant to receiving help. But there is another important question families should consider:
What kind of schedule gives the caregiver relationship the best chance to succeed?
Start With the Goal, Not Just the Hours
Before deciding how many hours to schedule, consider the family's long-term goal. If the goal is for Mom or Dad to remain safely at home for as long as possible, establishing a strong and lasting relationship with a caregiver can be just as important as determining what tasks need to be completed today. This is particularly important when an older adult doesn't think they need help. A family may see a caregiver as necessary support while mom may see a stranger coming into her home.
Consistency can help change that.
When the same caregiver arrives regularly, they have an opportunity to learn your parent's personality, routines, and preferences. Over time, familiarity can become trust and the caregiver may become someone your parent genuinely looks forward to seeing.
Why Very Few Hours Can Make Consistency More Difficult
Families frequently tell us they want the same caregiver for every visit. That's understandable and something we believe is important. But there is a practical side of home care that families may not realize. Professional caregivers need dependable employment too. Many are looking for either a part-time schedule of approximately 20 hours per week or a full-time schedule closer to 40 hours.
Consider a family requesting three hours of care twice a week. A caregiver may accept those six hours, but they still need additional work. If they later find a part-time or full-time opportunity that provides the hours they need, they may understandably choose that schedule. The family is then introduced to another caregiver. That can be particularly difficult when an older adult was already reluctant to accept help.
Why Getting the Start Right Matters
One of the biggest frustrations families express about home care is caregiver turnover and having different people coming into the home. Frequent changes can erode trust, confuse an older adult, and require family members to repeatedly explain routines and preferences to someone new. It can also reinforce the resistant parent's original concern: "See? This isn't working."
That's why the first few weeks of home care are so important. A good start with a consistent caregiver gives the relationship time to develop. Once trust is established, the conversation often changes. Families who initially worried about scheduling too much care may find that their parent enjoys having the caregiver there.
What Would a Caregiver Do for 20 Hours?
Families sometimes tell us, "We don't have 20 hours of things for a caregiver to do." That's understandable when you're thinking only about the immediate reason you called. But consider everything family members may already be doing. Who shops for groceries? Does the laundry? Prepares meals? Changes the sheets? Provides transportation? Runs errands? Tidies the house? Checks in on Mom or Dad?
A caregiver can often take some of those responsibilities off the family's plate while also providing companionship and developing a relationship with the older adult. The goal isn't to invent 20 hours of work. It's to look at the bigger picture of what it takes to help someone continue living successfully at home.
How Seniors Home Care Approaches Scheduling
At Seniors Home Care, our standard caregiving service has a 20-hour-per-week minimum and a four-hour minimum per visit. A common schedule is four hours per day, five days a week. But 20 hours can be arranged differently depending on the client's needs, for example, two 10-hour days.
Our minimum isn't designed simply to sell families more hours of care. It comes from years of experience seeing what helps home care relationships succeed and what can cause them to fail.
A 20-hour schedule can provide a caregiver with a meaningful part-time position with one client. A caregiver seeking full-time work may be able to work with two clients. Once caregivers have the hours they're looking for, there is less reason for them to leave an assignment simply to find a schedule that meets their employment needs.
For the family, that can mean fewer caregiver changes, less time introducing and training new people, and a better opportunity for the older adult and caregiver to develop a lasting relationship. That consistency is ultimately what we're trying to accomplish with the minimum, not simply more hours in the home.
What If My Parent Really Doesn't Need 20 Hours?
Twenty hours isn't appropriate for every situation. Some older adults genuinely need less assistance, and some families simply aren't ready to begin with that amount of care. There are other ways to structure support, and Seniors Home Care offers an option specifically for families who need fewer weekly caregiving hours. We'll explore that in another article. For now, the important thing is to recognize that the lowest number of hours isn't necessarily the best place to start.
Think Beyond This Week
Home care often begins with a relatively small need. Over time, that need may change. Establishing the right caregiver relationship early gives families a foundation they can build on. Once care is established, additional support can be added as circumstances change.
So when deciding how many hours of home care your parent needs, don't ask only: "What's the minimum amount of help we can get by with?"
Also ask: "If remaining at home as long as possible is our goal, what kind of caregiving relationship will help us get there?"
Seniors Home Care has been helping St. Louis-area families navigate care at home since 1987. If you're unsure how much care is appropriate for your parent, our team can help you think through the options.
Call Seniors Home Care to talk with our team about your family's situation.
314-962-2666
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