Home Healthcare

Hello @blschiffler and welcome to Connect. Would you please say what area you are looking for to help your grand daughter? For security, don't post personal information like your address, but a city or county and state would help other members make recommendations for you. You might also contact the hospital where she received her care. There is usually a social worker at the hospital with knowledge of where to find local services.

I will contact the social worker. Thank you!

Hi @bischiffler great to see you here on Mayo Connect! I'm Scott and I was my wife's caregiver for over 14 years during her war with brain cancer. While I know each patient, their disease, and journey are unique, I can share some of the lessons we learned while I was her caregiver, especially later when we needed additional help.

The most important aspect of hiring an aide for us was doing the necessary meet and greet, then try them out for an abbreviated shift, and then, more often than not, repeat.

Each community's availability and companies working there are different. Lots of franchise companies here, which in our experience were the worst, but that may just be here. I did a lot of word-of-mouth looking via our GP, hospice organization, and nurses themselves. The best help we got were from nurses' recommendations.

Strength, Courage, and Peace

Hello @blschiffler

It is so kind of you to be trying to help your granddaughter! I admire your caring.

It sounds like your daughter needs a home nurse, RN, to help with the trach/vent care and also a home health aid. An RN would most likely not play games or do crafts with your granddaughter, however, a home health aid would be able to provide her companionship.

When you speak with the social worker you might mention your granddaughter's need for companionship.