If you're exploring home health care options for a loved one living in San Mateo County (or portions of the East Bay), California, this web site is for you. We help people of all ages (primarily seniors) who need assistance in order to live or recover at home or in a facility.
Our Goal
Our goal is to improve the quality of life for our clients and their families. We improve the quality of life by providing the kind of service, and establishing an environment, each of us would want for our own parents - a sense of independent living and self-reliance (as much as possible), preservation of dignity, relief from stress, worry and guilt, improved safety and security, and peace of mind for clients and their families.
Tasks
We reach our goal by having our caregivers assist each client with daily needs such as meal planning and preparation; dish washing; transportation for grocery shopping, appointments, errands, visiting friends, going to church, and sightseeing; assistance with walking, transferring, toileting, bathing, grooming, and dressing; medication reminders; charting daily activities; light housekeeping (sweeping, dusting, mopping, vacuuming); laundry (wash, dry, fold, iron, put away); bed linen changes (weekly, or more often if needed); companionship (reading, talking, games, decision making, etc.); and encouraging fun activities whenever possible (walking outside, visiting a museum or the zoo, going to a movie or a play, socializing at the senior center, sharing experiences with other people in the same age group, talking with children, shopping, having lunch or dinner out, etc.). Our caregivers work with children and elderly people. They are familiar with the geriatric needs of seniors, and with dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases. Our caregivers are supervised by a Caregiver Coordinator and a Licensed Vocational Nurse, who also provides contract nursing services for clients who need them.
We work with all major hospices to keep the client comfortable and pain free. In a hospice situation, the hospice usually provides a nurse who oversees all care needs of the client. The nurse typically visits the home at a frequency determined by the hospice and physician. It’s our role to supply caregivers who remain in the home at all times to perform the tasks needed to keep the client comfortable, according to directions provided by hospice.
Because we are a homecare agency and not a state licensed in-home healthcare agency, we cannot by law give injections or do anything invasive. To obtain these services, please call us for a list of companies providing visiting nurses. Clients can contact these services to make arrangements for visits.
Hourly, 12-Hour Shift, and Live-In
We provide care in three ways: hourly, 12-hour shifts, and 24-hour live-ins. The type and frequency of care needed by a client usually is determined by the client, in consultation with our agency and/or a hospice and physician.
- Hourly care is for clients who want a level of service that can balance their needs with the desire for independent living. We have a 2-hour minimum for hourly care, which means we charge a minimum of 2 hours each time we come to the home (many other agencies have a 3-4 hour minimum).
- We offer 12-hour care to clients whose health issues require constant attention (for example, turning a quadriplegic in bed every 2-3 hours).
- Our 24-hour live in service is for clients who prefer to have an attendant in the home at all times.
The main difference between 12-hour and 24-hour care is that the caregiver is required to sleep on a 24-hour case, but must stay awake when working 12 hours. Another difference in California is that hourly and 12-hour cases are both billed on an hourly basis and are therefore subject to the 40-hour work week rule from the California Industrial Welfare Commission (IWO). However, 24-hour cases are billed on a "shift" rate and IWO Rule 15 does not make 24-hour shift cases subject to the 40-hour work week rule. There are several other differences, too, which we can discuss, if interested.
Open 24 Hours
Our offices are open 24 hours for the urgent needs of our clients and prospective clients. We are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for non-urgent matters. Urgent and non-urgent needs can be addressed by calling our office at (650) 654-9574.
Areas Served
Based in San Carlos, our office serves the San Mateo County cities of Belmont, Burlingame, Brisbane, Colma, Emerald Hills, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Daly City, Pacifica, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, and Woodside. We serve portions of the East Bay on request (Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, El Cerrito, Hayward, Kensington, Moraga, Oakland, Piedmont, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Blackhawk and Rossmor).
Rates
Please call us at (650) 654-9574 to obtain our hourly, 12-hour, and 24-hour live-in rates. Unlike other agencies, we do not charge for meetings (some agencies charge up to $250). We not require a deposit (some agencies charge up to $2,500). We do not charge “extra” to cook a meal (some agencies charge up to $5 for each meal). Our only other charge is for mileage, which we pass through to our clients at the federally-suggested rate determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This rate changes each January. For details, go to http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=151226,00.html.
How We Work
Each caregiver is our employee, not yours. This means that we (not you) are responsible for all local, state, and federal taxes (including employer and social security taxes). We use a certified public accountancy corporation for all payroll and tax matters. We pay our caregivers every other week by payroll check, so no cash should ever be exchanged between clients and caregivers. We invoice our clients weekly and ask that they pay weekly as well.
Our caregivers speak and write English fluently. Each passes a thorough background check, is bonded, has liability insurance, has auto insurance, and has worker’s compensation insurance. We provide the same caregiver every time to promote bonding. We have backup help available as needed. We arrive on time, every time, and perform all duties with a positive attitude.
Our caregivers do not talk on the phone during work hours except to arrange for a ride or to communicate an urgent message. They are not allowed to have friends, relatives, etc. in or near the home. Relatives or friends providing rides must wait outside in their vehicle. Caregivers wear scrubs and tennis shoes, unless otherwise directed by the client through the agency. Caregivers arrive on time every time.
Our Guarantee
We personally guarantee satisfaction with our service, which can be cancelled at any time without a penalty fee. If you are not satisfied, we will find another caregiver or agency for you at no charge to you.
How to Begin Service
The first step toward obtaining service is to call (650) 654-9574 for a free initial meeting between the client, their family or friends, and our agency. This meeting is held in the home. It generally lasts one hour, or a little more.
During the meeting, we assess the client, ask questions, and generally talk about the services we can provide, and which of these should be provided for the client. After the assessment, we perform a free home-safety inspection to ensure the home is safe and secure for both the client and caregiver.
We conclude the meeting by leaving behind a folder of information that contains all the paperwork necessary to get started. If you want to start our service, simply fill out the paperwork and send it to us. Once the paperwork is received, we can begin service at any time.
Memberships
We are members of the San Mateo County area Chamber of Commerce, the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for Homecare and Hospice, the Senior Resource Alliance, and the Bay Area Better Business Bureau.
We maintain a list of agencies who can assist our clients and their families and firms who are "preferred providers" for our clients. The list of agencies is supplied as a public service. The list of local Preferred providers are businesses we have dealt with in the past, and who we trust to provide outstanding service. Some of the preferred providers offer a 10% discount to clients of Homewatch CareGivers. Preferred providers are marked with an *. Please see the "links" section of this website for details.