The Ride Has an Owner: Splitting Drives to Errands and Visits Between Family and Hired Help

A home care plan usually covers the hours at home and says little about the trips outside it. Errands, bank visits, the hair appointment, church, the library, a visit to a relative across the county line, and every doctor visit all need a car, a driver, and someone to open the door at both ends. Where the supply of home care businesses is thin (see Finding help where the supply is thinnest), the drive can take as much planning as the shift itself.

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.

Make the trip list before you choose a driver

Write every regular trip on one page. For each trip, record the start point, the end point, the day part (morning, midday, or evening), the door-to-door travel time, and whether someone must go inside with the person. Mark the trips fixed by others, such as a booked office time or a service start time, and the trips that can move. The fixed trips set the minimum driving capacity. The movable trips are where a hired driver or a family member can balance the load.

Who drives, in four patterns

There are four common patterns. The family drives every trip in the family vehicle. The aide drives the client in the client's own vehicle. The aide drives in a personal vehicle. A transport service or the agency provides the ride. Most households end up with a mix. Each pattern raises a different question about insurance, fuel, parking, and who handles a car that will not start.

Questions to put to the agency in writing

Ask whether the agency permits its staff to drive the client at all. Some agencies do not, and a policy that allows it may still limit the trips, the vehicles, or the hours. Ask which coverage applies when a staff member drives, whether the agency's coverage extends to a personal car, and what the agency does if a crash happens during an errand. Ask whether the aide will walk the person to the door at the destination, wait inside, or only stop at the curb. Ask who carries and unloads a walker or wheelchair, and whether the aide stays while a line or a counter takes time. Ask who the family should call if a trip runs long, and whether the aide can be reached by phone during the ride.

Check the vehicle and the paper

For whichever car carries the person, confirm the registration is current, the insurance card names the person who will drive it, and the policy covers a driver other than the owner. Ask the insurer in writing whether a paid driver or business use changes the coverage. Check that the vehicle has room to fold and stow a walker or wheelchair, that the step into the vehicle is one the rider can manage with the help that is planned, and that the rider can exit at the destination without a long walk on uneven ground.

Build the backup line

Every fixed trip needs a second name. Write down the backup driver, the backup vehicle, and the backup route. Ask the agency whether a second aide can cover a short-notice trip, and ask the family which relative lives close enough to reach the destination quickly. Decide before the first ride who cancels or reschedules a trip, and what happens to a fixed trip when the car is out of service. In thin areas the backup often has to come from family, so name that person before the plan depends on them.

Split the week

Lay the trip list on a grid with the days across the top and the day parts down the side. Mark each cell with its owner: F for family, A for the aide in the client's car, P for the aide in a personal car, and T for a transport service. Check the grid for three things. Are any cells empty? Does one owner appear in two places at the same time? Does one person hold more than half the cells? A grid where one family member carries most of the cells means the plan rests on that person. Adjust until the cells spread across at least two owners and every fixed trip has a named backup.

Decide what stays with the family

Some trips need a family member present whatever the driver arrangement, such as a meeting where a decision is made or a visit where the family wants to hear the answer directly. Mark those cells in a separate color. The aide can drive, but the family keeps those conversations, and those cells should not be assumed to fit a standing shift.

For how supply thins across the region and what that means for a county plan, see How to read a caregiver-supply map for your county.