Sunday, September 15th
2024 Senior Care Service Reviews
Visiting Angels
- Non-medical care available including companionship, grooming, dressing, toileting, light housekeeping, meal preparation, and errands
- Free in-home consultation
- All caregivers undergo a comprehensive background and criminal history check
- Caregiving process is monitored with frequent phone calls and supervisor home visits
- All agencies are licensed, bonded, and insured
- Can interview any caregiver prior to the start of services
- Can cancel services with two weeks' notice; can make permanent schedule changes with one-week's notice
- Caregivers can use "Caregiver University” to get advanced training for specific conditions
- "A+” rated by the BBB
- In business since 1998
For more than 20 years, Visiting Angels has been providing in-home care to elderly adults. The company has over 600 franchised locations nationwide (plus even more in the UK, South Korea, and Mexico), offering a variety of non-medical services like Alzheimer's and dementia care, companionship, light housekeeping, and much more.
Free consultation
You can take advantage of a free in-home consultation from the Visiting Angels staff in your location: just enter your zip code to see the office serving your area. The consultation will include an assessment of the client's needs, the living situation, and a discussion about which services would be needed and how often. We appreciate that Visiting Angels has a "Select Your Caregiver” policy, allowing all clients to interview any caregiver prior to starting services, and the ability to change caregivers if needed (allowing for an initial adjustment period, of course).
Double-check availability in your area
Because all Visiting Angels' locations are independent franchises supported by the company, availability can vary. For example, when looking at a zip code in the suburbs of a mid-sized metro area in the South, we had no trouble finding coverage for that location. On the other hand, for a slightly less urban area in the Midwest, the Visiting Angels location that came up for that zip code didn't list the town (or even the county) in the area of coverage. Either way, you'll need to reach out to start the process, which involves either an online form or a call to the general toll-free number for Visiting Angels. We'd prefer to be given the direct number for the senior care location nearest us, but it is what it is.
Caregivers can access training as needed
Visiting Angels also gives their caregivers access to the "Caregiver University”. If they need specialized training for conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, or dementia, it's available on demand to help them better care for their clients.
1-week notice to change, 2-week notice to cancel
While you're not obligated to a long-term commitment when you sign up for senior care through Visiting Angels, you do have to give two weeks' notice to cancel your service altogether. If you're just making a permanent schedule change, the company only requires one week's notice.
Caregivers are vetted and monitored
How about safety? Like any reliable senior care service, Visiting Angels performs a comprehensive background and criminal history check before a caregiver is hired. The agency is licensed, bonded, and insured for additional peace of mind. We were also glad to learn that they also monitor the caregiving process, with supervisors making home visits and calling clients to make sure everything is going well. That's a much-needed inclusion for senior care, given that complaints about other services often mention a lack of supervision and accountability for caregiver performance.
Caregivers and clients love Visiting Angels
And reputation? We have zero concerns when it comes to Visiting Angels. Of course, any company that has independently-operated franchises can vary by location, in terms of the care given and the quality of the experience, but overall it's clear that Visiting Angels expects its caregivers to offer kind, compassionate, and reliable senior care - and that those caregivers deliver.
More than 2,000 customer reviews
Across nearly 2,000 reviews left for this agency, reflecting the experience of clients nationwide, the average was an impressive 4.6 out of 5 stars. Clients say that the carers are compassionate and reliable, and caregivers say that the company treats them well. We were particularly pleased to see feedback from both employees and customers who have been with Visiting Angels for 5+ years. Add that to the "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau and it's easy to see why this senior care provider ranks so highly among the companies in our evaluation.
Excellent choice for senior care
If you're fortunate enough to have a Visiting Angels office near you, we recommend that you make reaching out to them one of your first steps when arranging for senior care. The company is committed to top-notch help, hiring excellent caregivers and keeping them around for a long time. Visiting Angels is one of our favorite resources for non-medical senior care nationwide.
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Where Can You Find the Best Resources for Senior Care?
Let's face it: as our loved ones get older (or as we do!), it can be hard finding the right resources for care. Most people resist the idea of going to an independent or assisted living facility, preferring instead to "age in place”. In fact, that's what two-thirds of Americans surveyed have said they plan to do, year after year.
There can be some challenges to making that happen. We all know that as we age, physical decline is to be expected: our balance falters, our memory gets a little fuzzy, and we may need to use the bathroom more often. Also, older people often struggle with daily tasks, like cooking and doing laundry, and they need someone to lend a hand from time to time.
Senior Care Service FAQ
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Plus, when friends and family aren't available, it can make it harder for everyone to feel comfortable with an at-home arrangement. Fortunately, senior care services can fill that gap, for everything from simple companionship a few times a week to more in-depth services like bathing and transferring from bed to chair and back again.
Having a care provider you can rely on is invaluable, whether you're the one receiving the help or the one getting the updates that yes, your beloved family member really is doing fine from day to day. But, we're all too familiar with some of the horror stories in the news - about senior citizens being taken advantage of (or worse) by those who were supposed to be there to help. It can make choosing a senior care service pretty nerve-wracking.
However, there are some amazing services out there with fantastic reputations. How do you sort out the good ones from the bad? Here are some criteria that can guide your decision-making:
- Care provider screening process. What is done to evaluate the people they hire? Background checks should be the bare minimum.
- Reputation. Look at what other clients have said about the senior care service and the individual carers (when available). Does the service have a good track record? See if the company has been rated by the Better Business Bureau, if it has industry accreditations, and above all, if previous and current clients have positive things to say about their experience.
- Availability in your area. The best senior care platform in the world isn't much use if they don't have carers near you. Double-check that their services are offered in your area before you get too involved in the process. Once you've determined that it's available, be sure to ask how long you can expect it to take to be matched with a caregiver: in some areas, it can happen quickly, but in others it may take a month or more.
- Rates and contracts. It's fairly common for a senior care service to have a minimum number of weekly hours, and pricing tends to start around $15-$20 per hour. Find out if your contract can be canceled or modified whenever you want.
- Multiple caregivers. Ask if the service will pair you with the same caregiver from visit to visit or if you would possibly be working with multiple individuals. If the senior requiring care is sensitive to change, it might be a deal-breaker if you could possibly see a new face every time.
While it can feel a little sad or scary to look for senior care, it's well worth the time to get the help that allows you or your loved one to keep living life to the fullest. The experts at here at Top Consumer Reviews have done a deep dive into some of today's most popular services, so that you can connect with a reliable service and compassionate caregivers as soon as possible.
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