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Mother in law needs assistance at home with showering and fall protection.

Contact her local Area Agency on Aging for resources

Contact social services for her county to get an in-home assessment for needs. They can provide help with light housekeeping, food prep, hygiene and possibly more, depending on what state and county she's in. They may also be able to help "senior-ize" her house to decrease fall risk, but honestly... elders fall even when the conditions are perfect. If she has balance issues she needs to go to her primary care doc to check on this, and maybe do PT for strengthening.

The county can provide some free help but eventually it won't be enough. She'll either have to spend the money to pay for a privately hired aid or consider transitioning to AL.
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Reply to Geaton777
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A few places to try.
Contact Area Agency on Aging
Your local Senior Service Center
both of these may be aware of programs that your MIL may qualify for.
You can contact any Agency in your area and interview them and see what the charges are, how many hours they require or if MIL needs 24/7 help how much that would be.
You can also hire privately. the "trick" is finding someone that knows what they are doing. AND you must follow legal protocol and not "pay under the table" for caregiving services. AND another important thing...MIL foots the bill for any and all caregivers that are hired. This may be important later as her assets are spent that the cost of caregiving is documented in case there is a need for Medicaid application. Begin, if you have not already, keep all receipts, and if MIL is living with you she should be "charged" her fair share of all household expenses.
The 2 best caregivers I hired had just completed their CNA certification and were waiting for Nursing School to start. I contacted the local Community College they have a CNA Certification program and Nursing School program.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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Home care
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Reply to Mhr1963
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Dixie99, welcome to the forum. Scroll down to the bottom of this page, on the left you will see "In-Home Care", click on that. Fill out the form and click on "Find Home Care". Hope you find a good match :)
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Reply to freqflyer
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Check for home health agencies in your area. Check for complaints - look for patterns - on Yelp and/or Better Business Bureau. Check with local hospital for agencies that they recommend.
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Reply to Taarna
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Dixie99: Start with your town's Council on Aging.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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If you are looking to hire caregivers, I am trying Care.com . I have just begun with them and have not started interviewing yet but have found a good many possibilities that I hope will soon pan out for us with a good hire. There are many home care agencies that would meet with you to discuss your needs.

If you are looking for paid home care, that is another issue. Our local Council on Aging has short term grants. If she was married to a veteran, but never divorced, there are spouse benefits she may be eligible.
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Reply to KPWCSC
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It sounds like you just need help for a few hours, but for anyone out there who lands on this page and needs more help (like 24/7, which is our situation), I found this page enormously helpful when I was first starting out:
https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/homecare/hiring-independent-caregivers

The main thing I would stress is that *it's not as difficult as it seems at first.* For example, it seems like a huge deal to get registered as an employer, but when you do it, it takes maybe 60 seconds.

We are saving at least 30% by not going through an agency, maybe even 50% these days. It is some work, and at first you will wonder if it was worth it, but for us it definitely was. I can't tell you how glad I am I came across that page, doing this has been a game-changer for us.
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Reply to mochi2024
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