Looking for live-in caregiver in Washington DC

THIS JOB IS A LIVE-IN POSITION IN WASHINGTON DC

We are looking for a kind, patient, responsible live-in caregiver for my 81-year-old father with Alzheimer’s in Washington DC. The pay will be $300/day on the books.

My dad lived through WWII and the Holocaust before immigrating to the U.S. from Eastern Europe (he speaks Polish and Russian as well as English). Sadly he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about two years ago and is gradually slipping away, but for now he still has lots of stories and is mobile enough to go for walks.

He used to love to do complex solitaire and sudoku—he’s now doing easy ones. He spends a lot of time people-watching out the window and sitting in parks as well as watching TV and reading the news online. He is sensitive to being treated with respect and like a person even as his condition deteriorates. He has great difficulty with short-term memory, so you’ll often have to answer his questions more than once and help him with devices like his phone and tablet.

Right now he needs help with:

- Remembering to take his medication (and when he’s already taken it)

- Meals – shopping, cooking, serving, cleaning up

- Housekeeping – laundry, sweeping/vacuuming/mopping, tidying

- Companionship and mental stimulation, going on walks

- Reminders and some help to bathe and shave

- Reassurance when he wakes up at night

He has some other medical issues like high blood pressure and gout that occasionally make it hard for him to walk and which require him to have a special diet. During the night he wakes up a few times and needs redirection.

We expect that he’ll gradually need additional help within the next year or two with bathing and possibly toileting, and eventually pushing him in a wheelchair for walks.

Our ideal candidate will be someone who is understanding about his condition, creative about engaging him in activities, and happy to take him on walks around the neighborhood at his pace and spend time outdoors in a park or courtyard in nice weather. Please also be comfortable communicating clearly with an old man with a fairly thick Eastern European accent. You should also be comfortable with dogs as he likes to spend time with our family dog (a goldendoodle).

Our budget is $300/day. We have to pay on the books, so you need to be legal to work in the U.S. We will provide room and board and all other expenses at the apartment (internet, cable tv, utilities) as well as two weeks’ paid vacation.

My dad’s apartment is in an elevator building in the SW waterfront area of Washington DC. There is a full kitchen and dishwasher, and laundry in the basement. You will have a comfortable private furnished bedroom and bath.

Within our budget, we are open to multiple arrangements. If you would prefer to live at the apartment full-time and not have another residence, we can do that and set aside a portion of the budget to hire a daytime caregiver on certain days to give you a break. If you would prefer splitting the work with another live-in caregiver such that you live in the apartment for some days and the other caregiver lives in for the others, let us know what days you would like. (In this case, the bedroom would be shared between the caregivers.)

Ideally we would find someone who could start within a month and stay with this job (if things work out well for all of us) for maybe 2-5 years.

If you would like to apply for the position, please reply with an email address and phone number where we can reach you, and tell us about yourself, especially your previous caregiving experience and any aide certifications you might have. Let us know what your ideal schedule would be and also how flexible you can be, and your desired and feasible start date.

Thank you so much for considering this position – we know the right care can make an enormous difference in my father’s quality of life and hope you’ll find the role a good fit for your needs as well.