Every household with an older adult sorts its chores into two piles: the tasks a family member will do, and the tasks a hired caregiver will do. Laundry is a useful test case because it is routine, visible, and easy to split badly. This guide walks through the decision for a home in St. Charles County or west St. Louis County without assuming a particular answer in advance.

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.

Why laundry is a good test

Laundry comes every week, cannot be skipped for long, and depends on a machine, a dryer, a folding surface, and a route from the bedroom to the closet. Those four elements decide whether the job can be handed over. If the washer sits in a basement that an aide cannot easily reach, that fact changes the answer before any question of skill comes up.

Three questions for each chore

Ask whether the task needs someone in the home at a set time, whether it needs a person who knows the household's preferences, and whether the family can finish it reliably even in a bad week. If the answer is yes to all three for the family, keep the task with the family. If any answer is no, the task belongs on the hired-help list. Repeat the test for groceries, bed linens, trash to the curb, and routine checks of the house.

What the county changes

In a county where the supply of home care businesses runs thin, a family cannot count on filling a gap quickly. Keep the family-kept tasks as the backup for the hired-help tasks, and name the person who takes over if the aide is absent. The supply picture is set out in Finding help where the supply is thinnest, and the older-population picture by county is in Which Missouri Counties Are the Oldest?

Splitting the list in writing

Write two columns: family tasks and hired tasks. For each hired task, note the time it should happen, the supplies the aide will need, and where those supplies are kept. For each family task, name the person responsible and the fallback. Ask the agency to confirm in writing which hired tasks it will perform and which it will not, so the list is the record rather than memory.

Closing check

A good split leaves the family with tasks it can actually finish and leaves the aide with tasks that fit a visit. If the family column is empty, the household is handing over more than a visit can hold. If the hired column is empty, the family may be carrying work it has not named. Chores stay a household plan, and health questions still go to the family's doctor.