Caregivers (hired). Can Not use a majority of equipment (suction/ Cough assist or BiPAP and wonder at the Eye Gaze stuff.
Most will wash your laundry, dishes, clean the floors but fail to dump the bed pan or waste baskets. Certainly NOT feeding the patient meds.
Care.com. I have seen some VERY qualified care givers for hire. Cheaper than the "store fronts". However, there is one slight problem. I am NOT a lawyer and certainly NOT an accountant and am NOT a Tax professional. Use caution when going this route. The money I spend on Care givers for hire easily exceeds my income. I have already gone through a big chunck of savings and now am tapping into my retirement accounts - and draining that fast! The care givers found at Care dot com are better qualified that those that are provided via the care companies. Nurses of varying stripes and qualifications can be found via the Caregivers for hire. Problem is. with around a $100 per hour price tag with a minimum of a 4 hour stint they are much like a plumber who shows up, turns off a valve (done in under 15 minutes) then charges one for a 2-hour minimum of $200! The other items is that these folks from Care dot com are not backed by workman's comp, other insurance, SS payments etc. so the job provider must take out taxes, pay the Unemeployment, Income taxes, etc and insurances - run a Payroll for all those hired in. Tomswife gets 4 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period (I can relate) and Care dot com and the IRS wants her to run a payroll department!
The CALS is going to want to use these expenses as a tax deduction. It then becomes problematic with the IRS (and the CALS / PALS.) The best scenario is that a CALS hires in a periodic care giver to supplement them and or their other support when things go awry. In short, this is for short brief periods. and is a one-off rather than a long term solution. These used to be "day workers" - often one could go down to the Unemployment office and someone needing help for the day would come in and say I need 2 people to help move stuff or help ??? . End of story.
POSSIBLE HELP SOLUTION: Locally there is a group AACOG (Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas) - an agency on Aging. When I called and explained my situation, they mentioned I would be getting a call from several "branches" of the group. One group has volunteers (unpaid aids?) who might come in a number of times during the week for "respite" care. This can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks. This type of help needs to be on a speed dial or 911 list. I am not sure what these folks can or can not do - probably like the paid aids, but every little bit helps. Sorry we are all going through this. Hopefully, you have something similar in your area.