Agencies often describe themselves in the same warm terms. The comparison that matters is narrower: how each agency would staff this household's week, how it would handle a change, and whether it will put its answers in writing. Build one sheet and fill it in the same way for every agency under consideration. This guide is for households where the person receiving help is among the oldest adults in the region.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Start with the household's week
Before any call, write down the times help is needed, the rooms and tasks involved, the support already in place from family or neighbors, and the people who must be told about any change. A steady visit pattern is often harder to staff than a long task list, so note which matters more for this household before reviewing any agency's menu of services.
Build the side-by-side sheet
Use one column per agency and one row per question. Rows should cover staffing (whether visits go to the same caregivers and how replacements are introduced), supervision (who checks the caregiver's work and how often), communication (whom the family calls and how fast a reply is expected), scope (which tasks sit inside a visit), and change handling (notice, cancellations, and how a plan is revised). Fill each cell with the agency's written answer, not a verbal impression.
Test the change process
Ask each agency to walk through one realistic change: a visit moved from morning to afternoon, a caregiver who cannot arrive, or a week that needs more hours. Note who answers, what the agency commits to in writing, and how long the answer takes. The sheet should record the process, not the assurance.
Check the continuity answers
Ask how many caregivers are likely to visit in a typical week, how the agency handles a caregiver who leaves, and whether the family can request a familiar face. An answer that cannot be checked against a written schedule is a gap, and the gap belongs on the sheet.
Use the desk's rankings as a starting list, not a verdict
The desk ranks agencies on several criteria and explains its method on the methodology page. Read that page to understand what the rankings measure, then run the household's own sheet before deciding. A ranking can narrow the list, but only the household's week can decide the match. How We Rate: Methodology sets out the method.
What stays outside the sheet
Health questions go to the family's doctor, and this sheet does not ask any agency to judge a health matter. Keep the comparison to schedule, staffing, supervision, communication, and change handling, and keep every answer in writing.