Gilbert Guide awards WeCare Home Assistants Showcase status

Gilbert Guide: “Quality of Care. Quality of Life.”

Gilbert Guide is an organization based in San Francisco that is a true advocate for consumers needing care later in life. They not only recommend WeCare Home Assistants, but have awarded a showcase listing to them in 2008.

From the Gilbert Guide website: Gilbert Guide relies on the highest and most widely recognized standards of professional excellence for the complete range of senior care facilities and services, including homecare agencies. Many of the homecare agencies Gilbert Guide recommends are members of the National Private Duty Association (NPDA)—an organization whose standards of practice are highly regarded within the industry. Each of the homecare agencies awarded a Gilbert Guide Seal implements the following standards regarding all caregivers:
• Conducts a criminal background check
• Provides worker’s compensation insurance
• Maintains professional liability insurance or bond
• Covers all payroll taxes
• Provides ongoing supervision
• Provides 24-hour oncall supervisors
• Provides caregiver training
The NPDA is a fairly new organization, and while Gilbert Guide recognizes its potential to be a leading force in the industry, we also recognize that as the organization continues to build its membership, many reputable homecare agencies are not currently members.

Additional Standards for Homecare
There are two other major sources for obtaining homecare services: referral agencies and private-hire caregivers. Gilbert Guide does not award seals to either referral agencies or private-hire caregivers for the following reasons. The guidelines for caregivers who are referred through an agency are set by the individual agencies and are not standardized, making it impossible to assess the quality of care except on a caregiver-by-caregiver basis. The same holds true for private-hire caregivers. Gilbert Guide therefore awards seals to reputable agencies—not individuals—that screen, train, supervise and employ their caregivers.

Overview of Services Provided
In-home caregivers perform a range of services. A caregiver employed by a homecare agency with a Gilbert Guide Seal will offer the following services:
• Conducts a care assessment and creates a care plan
• Assists clients in bathing, grooming, dressing and toileting
• Provides transportation
• Tracks medication and provides reminders
• Prepares meals
• Performs light housekeeping tasks
• Provides laundry service
• Runs errands and does grocery shopping
• Helps with bill paying and record keeping

For more about Gilbert Guide, and a collection of excellent senior care articles, click here.
For information about the Better Business Bureau, click here.

Providing caregiver services for the elderly in the following areas: Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Brentwood, Summerset, Martinez and Rossmoor. Contra Costa in home care services are also provided in Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. Home care options available in Berkeley, Kensington, Oakland, Montclair, Piedmont, San Leandro, Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Diablo, Clayton, California. Live-in and hourly senior services provided in the East Bay, Contra Costa County, Alameda County, and the North Bay in Marin County and Sonoma County. In-home caregiving and companionship services also in Santa Rosa, Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Oakmont, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Menlo Park and Windsor, California. Contact us today for rates and to set up a free, in-home assessment.