Homecare service fro elderly

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Hi all its been a while since I’ve been on the forum but as always for the last 15 years you guys are my go-to-platform when I get stuck.

My mum will be visiting shortly after 5 months of being in bed back home. She had a vertebral damage and was totally unable to move or walk and so had to take care of her. After 2 surgeries and many physio sessions since now back walking short distances and sitting for a couple of hours but she needs change of scenery to boost her morale so I’m bringing her here for a couple of weeks.

Question is - she would likely need for someone to be with her almost 24 hrs. I have the luxury of being able to work from home but it can’t be all days every day since I will need to travel some times, sometimes go to office and sometimes just personal engagements which I will try and minimize but its inevitable.

I have zero information of services here in Switzerland. Back at home either family was doing it and also of needed there were ladies who would take on the job against payment of course.

What kind of support is available here either full time or part time? Any guidance or pointing me to direction would be helpful.

Thanks

2

Try https://www.spitex-kanton-zuerich.ch…f%C3%BCr%20Sie

3

Is your mom a Swiss resident?

While it is possible that Spitex could care for a non-resident, be aware that somey of the cantonal Spitex groups are stretched to their limit, and some are prioritizing which patients they can offer care to.

One Spitex I know of had to pause taking on cases for some time, but I believe they are able to take on new patients now.

The local Spitex in our area, instead of the two person team the doctor ordered, could only send one person for two 20-30 minute visits per day. Family had to help do the physical work during those visits, as well as provide for the other 23 hours per day.

Obviously YMMV, hopefully you are in an area that isn’t struggling with staffing shortages.

You should also get in touch with private Spitex groups.

In my area public Spitex does not offer round the clock care, only private Spitex companies offers that.

If you go this route, make sure you understand your relationship - are you an employer of the Spitex aid, or a customer of the service? If an employer, make sure you are appropriately insured, especially if you anticipate the work to be fairly physical.

One private Spitex service is Home Instead:
https://www.homeinstead.ch

There are others, just search for private Spitex.

If your mother is not a Swiss resident with Swiss insurance and a Swiss doctor’s order for X Spitex hours, make sure you understand the costs. Heck, make sure you understand the costs even if she has Swiss insurance and a doctor’s order.

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FYI, round the clock care is more than one employee - it takes 4-5 people to provide 24/7 care. Subtract from that the hours you can provide and you might get down to 1-2 employees if you can cover all but 8 hours per day. Just be aware of this issue. If you employ privately you will of course need to follow Swiss labor law.

As an alternative, if you have to go private anyway, you might look into ‘Ferienbetreuung’ at one of the Altersheim. Some are quite lovely places, and depending on her needs, even though it could be very expensive that might nonetheless be a better solution. Tertianum is one of the ‘luxury’ facility, but there is one in most Gemeinden.

I recently helped a friend find a place; the patient could not get into the Gemeinde facility (which is one of the nicest around) because people from outside the canton had beaten us to the reservation. So don’t discount local Altersheim; even though they theoretically are supposed to prioritize local residents in practicality it’s first come first serve.

Eldercare can be a challenge to access, and takes time and planning. Just make sure you have all your ducks lined up in a row before your mother arrives.

If your Mom is not a Swiss resident, does she speak the local language? If you are in an urban area you might find English speaking carer, but around my area my (admittedly limited) experience is that English speaking carers are rare.)

Wishing you and your mother all the best.

4

Another thought:

If your mother does not need qualified care, one of the ‘24’ suite of platforms is Senior Services:
https://seniorservice24.ch/en/

Now, this is a connection platform, not a care provider company. You will be the employer, and it is up to you to do due diligence on the person you decide to hire.

The same comment about insurance applies.

You have to take out a membership in order to post your ad, but it’s inexpensive. You can browse to see if there are people looking for work in your area before joining, though.

Again, all the best.

5
Seems like an immense risk to me.

6
Many thanks Mellancollie for the detailed response. I am Swiss but not my mum and, if all goes by plan, she will stay here for a maximum of 2 months. Her need is more normal daily activities and at least for now she does not need medical care but she will need it for extended hours per day. I will give a call to Spitex to get some info and may be they can guide me to what is fitting.

Additionally, I am also trying to plan for contingency plan if she requires urgent medical care. She would have worldwide insurance for emergency but that only givs a small comfort in worst case scenarios and I suspect if she requires admission teh costs would be huge.

7
Given that it is preexisting I’d be concerned that it would be covered or that immigration would even allow her entry the country.

8
I take back my comment about qualified care via Senior 24 - i did a quick browse through listings for central Zürich, and saw a couple of people who are retired SRK-certified carers or credentialed nurses from other countries. If your mother's needs are for assistance and not medical help, that might be an option.

(If medical help is needed, however, you should go with a recognized agency where employees hold Switzerland-recognized qualifications.)

You could also split the care between Spitex and private care, as a way to cover the hours. Spitex could come in for medical needs, the rest of the time could be covered by a private employee.

FYI, the private spitex company Home Instead says that their 24hour service starts at CHF 225 per day, need dependent. That actually is less than hiring someone privately, where CHF 30 per hour seems to be the norm. Might be worth getting a quote from them.

Again, wishing you all the best.

9

You are wise to make a contingency plan, because one never knows what will happen.

This thread is older and a bit long, but there might be some useful information there for you. Particularly if your mother needs a sponsor for a visa (not sure, I don’t know her nationality).

https://www.englishforum.ch/insuranc…-coverage.html

On a personal note, a relative of mine recently came to visit. Swiss, but not a resident here and therefore no Swiss insurance. Urgent surgery was needed, and there was a lot of faffing about with the foreign insurance. He finally had to put up a deposit of 25,000 CHF before the hospital would operate.

10
Heard of similar pre-payment requests before including visit to emergency where the total bill was <1000CHF

On the other hand a friend also brought seriously ill father for a more expensive treatment here despite him having no health insurance in Switzerland so I think as long as one can show needed finances and there's no other reason for denying the entry, it seems to me she should be able to travel to Switzerland.

11
This is all very helpful guys. Thanks!

I found a company called mamie express which provide non medical care. You can book them for regular hours and days but it's when you need to book spontaneously that you may not find anyone to come.

Cost is too much though - 37.5 CHF per hour. So if I need 2 days per week 8:00 - 17:00 say for 2 months, that would be more than CHF 5'000. I'll try to call Home Instead as well to get a quote.

That may solve part of the problem.

For entry to country it should not be an issue as she's entering on wheelchair with no significant medical condition just like anyone. The main issue if an emergency occurs during her stay and needs hospitalization, costs could be huge but I guess one cannot plan for every scenario.

Your stories or experience of friends help me prepare for the worst. Thanks a mil!