The bed is one of the few household jobs that repeats on a fixed clock in every home. When help is split between family and hired hours, linens are often the first task to fall between owners, and a bed left bare or a sheet set left in a hamper is an early sign the split is not holding. Decide the owner for each step before the first visit, not after the first missed change.

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.

Name the four steps

A linen change is four separate jobs, and each can have a different owner. The first is stripping: removing the top sheet, fitted sheet, pillowcases, and any pad or cover. The second is washing and drying. The third is returning the clean set to the closet or shelf. The fourth is making up the bed with the clean set. Write these four lines on one page and mark an owner beside each. A line with no name beside it is the one that will slip.

Choose the owner for each line

Family can own all four, own only the washing, or own only the spare set. An aide can strip the bed and start the wash during a visit, with the family drying and folding later. A washing service, where one is used, can take the soiled set and return it clean. Each choice moves the cost of the job, the time it takes, and the day it happens. Compare the options against the visit schedule you already have, not against an ideal week.

Ask the agency these questions

  • Does the agency list linen changes as a set task in the care plan, or only as an occasional extra?
  • Does an aide change linens in this household on the visit day, or only when asked on the day?
  • Where is the washer, and does the route from the bedroom to the washer require stairs, a second floor, or a locked door?
  • How does the aide carry and bag soiled linens, and does the agency have a written rule for gloves and bagging?
  • What happens to a change when the visit runs short or the aide is reassigned?
  • Is the change included in the visit length, or does it add time that must be scheduled separately?

Write the answers next to the agency name. If the answer to the first question is no, the linen change belongs to the family in the written plan.

Set the spare and the shelf

A household needs one full set in use, one set in the wash or drying, and one spare, so a wash day never leaves the bed bare. Keep the clean sets on a shelf within reach of the bedroom door, not in a closet that needs a step stool. Mark the shelf for the sets that are ready. If an aide will make up the bed, the clean set must be on that shelf before the visit starts, so the visit is not spent searching.

Plan one linen week

Lay the week out on one page. One day is the strip day, when the soiled set comes off and goes to the washer. The wash and dry happen on that day or the next. One day is the make-up day, when the clean set goes on. If the strip day and the make-up day fall on different owners, write the handoff spot, such as the laundry basket by the door or the shelf by the washer, so the second owner knows where the set is. A plan with two owners and no handoff spot fails on the first busy day.

Check the plan when help is thin

Where the supply of home care is thin, an agency may not have an aide free on the day you need the linen change, so the family should hold the change as its own line until the agency confirms it. The guide on finding help where the supply is thinnest explains how to plan when one owner may be missing for a week. If a memory change or any health question comes up while you plan the linen routine, take it to the family's doctor.

Before the first visit

Write the four steps, the owner for each, the spare set count, the shelf location, the washer route, and the handoff spot on one page. Give a copy to the agency and keep one on the refrigerator or bedroom door. If the agency cannot put the linen change in the written care plan, the family owns that change, and the plan should say so.