Hello,

I am considering some help for some night time care. Grandpa has started taking new Rx for his Parkinson's symptoms and has shown some improvements but I'm still not getting any sleep at night. He can *usually* get up on his own out of the bed and use the commode (which we placed right next to his bed). Most nights he gets up 3-5 times to potty. Recently he started getting an occasional bloody nose, and would need assistance with this also. Basically he just needs someone to ensure help if he needs it, and to assist with the bloody noses if they happen.

I'm only looking for someone to come and stay a couple nights a week, just so i can get some sleep. If you were in this situation, how much would you pay per hour for a caregiver? I cannot afford too much, but the price of sleep may be worth it! A nights worth of work would probably total less than an hour, it would mostly be for peace of mind that someone is there for him when he needs them. On a typical night I sleep 40 minutes to 90 minutes at a time (maybe a total of 3-4 hours), and have a hard time falling back to sleep, and then by the time I'm back to sleep Grandpa wakes up again and the cycle continues... I'm working on two degrees right now in addition to caring for grandpa, and soon I need to get a job.

Your suggestions about what to pay for someone to come at night would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

If you hire an agency caregiver in our area you pay $22/hr. That's what I paid for four hours, two mornings a week. It's the standard rate.

You need sleep. I read somewhere that lack of sleep is the main reason for placement of LOs with dementia. Unfortunately, interrupted sleep goes with the territory. Hope you get some help [and some sleep!].

I hired CGs for my dad the last 3 weeks he was living at home. I think we paid either $18 or $20 an hour to the agency. Lynn

I currently hire a private caregiver for $15/hr to stay overnight with my LO from 8:30 pm to 6:30 am because she gets up to toilet from three to ten times a night. I have two wonderful women on a schedule so that no one caregiver has to be there more than 2 nights in a row. To save money, on weekends my sister takes Sat. night and my husband or I take Sun. night. When not hiring with an agency, I highly recommend a legal background check. Also, I am careful to hire people in reasonable physical shape with no back problems. And it is a good idea to have a short written contract with a description of their duties and a statement that they are responsible for paying taxes on their income. Luck to you. Annie

PRO (Parkinson's Resources Oregon) has a social worker on staff. I'm sure they'd be happy to give you some advice on hiring aides.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and info. We are doing our best and empowering myself with more knowledge about the disease and other's experiences helps manage the situation.

Kaeti

Our area charges $23.50 - 27.50/hr, I have the agency for 1 ,5 hr., day a week and a private caregiver every other Thursday and I pay her $20.00/hr.