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Dose of DeAnn Episode 8: PCAs and Independent Living
In the latest episode of Dose of DeAnn: A Glimpse Into My Life With SMA, I talk about hiring personal care assistants (PCAs) and living independently. Though the policies for how many caregiving hours a person is allotted varies based on where you live, I talk about what the process has been like for me and how I divide up my PCA hours.
To start off, I talk about what qualities I look for in a PCA and how the hiring process works. From there, I discuss what a typical day for me looks like and what hours I use PCAs for. I also talk a little bit about the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences I’ve had working with care assistants over the years.Finally, I wrap up this video with the latest edition of the Alexa vs. Roy challenge. This week’s challenge is to see who can turn on the lights in my house the best. I think both Roy and my Echo Show do a pretty good job, but I’ll let you be the judge. I also use this as an opportunity to share tips for using the Amazon Alexa technology for controlling household devices.
Check out the SMA News Today YouTube channel, where you can find all episodes of Dose of DeAnn: A Glimpse into my Life with SMA. You can also connect with DeAnn directly, right here on the forums page.
How do you stay independent? Which tips and tricks do you have of your own?
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6 Replies
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Great video DeAnn! Currently I live at home with my parents and my caregiver works with me throughout the week. I’m trying to hire someone for Saturday mornings, but the agency I’m talking with doesn’t have enough people on staff at the moment. I really like this specific agency though, so I’m kind of just waiting until they hire more PCAs.
Ultimately I do want to move out eventually, and seeing you make it work does encourage me. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Kevin! It does seem like staffing shortages are a common problem. For weekends I’ve found if I alternate weekends I find staff easier. They’re more apt to take a job when they know it’s every other weekend instead of every weekend.
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Yeah Saturdays especially are hard to fill. It’s only one day a week my parents have to get me up and ready in the morning, so it’s not bad. But still I’d like to fill that spot.
At one point I had three great caregivers, including the one I have now, and I had all days of the week covered. However, one of them left for the military and the other went to grad school in a different state. That’s the thing about it being such a temporary job.
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It seems like the good ones always tend to move on to bigger and better things. Although I’m happy for them I hate to see them leave.
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So true. Rarely do you meet someone who wants to remain a CNA until they retire, and are good at it. I’ve just been fortunate enough to have some great ones over the past few years.
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So far the new PCA is working out well. Not only is she prompt for her shifts, she likes to keep busy so we get a lot done. The main downfall is that she can only work until October. Might need to start looking now as it seems to take some time to find good ones. How do you all go about finding caregivers?
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