Questions to Ask a Caregiver
Questions to ask a caregiver during an interview, written for families hiring someone to look after an older or unwell relative at home. They are grouped under background, daily care, safety, trust, hours and pay, and working together, and each has a note on what to listen for in the answer. If you are interviewing in-home senior caregivers for a parent with Alzheimer's or another dementia, the daily care group ends with a run of questions for exactly that. Nobody asks them all in one sitting: choose the ones that fit the person and the job.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Background
How long have you been doing this work, and what kind of clients have you cared for?
Why ask it
The useful detail is the match rather than the number of years. Someone with a decade of dementia care may never have used a transfer belt or managed a feeding tube. Listen for the conditions they name without being prompted.
What training or certification do you hold, and when did you last renew it?
Why ask it
Ask for the first aid and CPR dates specifically, because those lapse. What a certificate is called and what it permits differs by country and state, so ask what theirs allows them to do and whether you can see the card.
Have you looked after anyone with this condition before?
Why ask it
Name the diagnosis first, then ask for an example rather than a yes. What they describe, refusing food, restlessness in the late afternoon, waking at three in the morning, shows whether they have handled it or only read about it.
Is there any part of personal care, such as bathing, toileting or changing pads, that you would rather not do?
Why ask it
Say the tasks by name, because "personal care" on its own lets each of you picture something different. Someone who states a limit plainly is easier to plan around than someone who agrees to everything and then quietly avoids it. If there is a limit, ask who covered that task on their last job.
Can you walk me through a shift you worked recently?
Why ask it
A real day tells you more than a list of duties. You learn what they do without being asked, how they pace the hours, and whether personal care and light housekeeping are part of the job or treated as favors.
What made you choose caregiving, and what has kept you in it?
Why ask it
Nearly everyone says they like helping people, so ask for the client or the day that made them stay. Someone who began by looking after a grandparent and someone who needed work and found they were good at it can both be right for you. What you want is a reason that survives a bad shift.
Have you mostly worked alone in private homes, or as part of a team in a facility?
Why ask it
In a facility there is a nurse down the hall and a colleague to help with a lift. In a house there is nobody to ask, and the caregiver decides alone. If all their experience is in facilities, ask what they would miss most working by themselves.
How did your last caregiving job come to an end?
Why ask it
Clients recover, move into residential care or die, and those are ordinary endings in this work. Take note if every job ended in a disagreement with the family, and compare the account with what the reference tells you.
What is the hardest day you've had in this work, and what did you do?
Why ask it
The story they pick shows what counts as hard for them: a client's aggression, a death, a family that would not listen. Notice whether they asked anyone for help, and whether they still speak about the person with respect.
How do you look after yourself when a job like this gets heavy?
Why ask it
Caring for one person all day can be lonely work. A believable answer is specific: a walk after the shift, a friend in the same job, a day off that stays a day off. If they say it never gets to them, ask about the client they found hardest to stop thinking about at home.
Daily care
How do you go about bathing or dressing someone who is embarrassed to need the help?
Why ask it
Good answers are small and practical: a towel kept over the lap, asking before each step, letting the person wash what they can reach. If the reply is only that they are used to it, ask what they did the last time a client was upset.
How would you get someone from a bed into a chair, and what equipment have you used to do it?
Why ask it
Give your relative's rough weight and how much they can do for themselves, then listen for a method: a transfer belt, a slide sheet, a mechanical lift, a second pair of hands. Ask as well what they would refuse to lift alone. A firm limit protects your relative as much as it protects their back.
How do you decide when to help and when to stand back and let someone manage?
Why ask it
Doing up every button is quicker, and a person who is never allowed to try tends to stop trying. A thoughtful caregiver can describe waiting through a slow task, and can also name what they would never leave someone to do alone, such as the stairs.
What choices do you leave to the person you're looking after?
Why ask it
Small choices are what remain when a lot has been lost: which sweater, tea or coffee, a bath before breakfast or after. Notice during the interview whether they speak to your relative directly or over their head to you.
What can you cook, and how do you handle a restricted diet?
Why ask it
Low salt, diabetic, soft or pureed food, and thickened liquids each take particular knowledge. Ask what they have actually prepared before rather than whether they can follow instructions.
What do you do when someone has no appetite or isn't drinking enough?
Why ask it
Smaller portions, a favorite food, a glass kept within reach, sitting down to eat alongside the person. You want the caregiver who keeps track of what was eaten and drunk and tells you when it drops for a few days, not the one who clears full plates without comment.
What housework would you expect to do during a shift?
Why ask it
Name the jobs you have in mind: the person's laundry, changing the bed, the dishes, a quick clean of the bathroom. Many caregivers draw the line at cleaning for the whole household, and it is fairer to hear that now than to leave a list on the counter later.
Do you drive, and would you take someone to appointments?
Why ask it
Sort out whose car, whose insurance, and who pays for fuel and parking. Some caregivers will drive a client's car but not their own, and some will not drive clients at all. Whichever car it is, ask the insurer whether those trips are covered before the first appointment.
What would you do with someone through a long, quiet afternoon?
Why ask it
On a quiet job, company can fill more of the day than any task, and it is the easiest part to let slide. Cards, the radio, a short walk, sorting through photographs: specifics here suggest someone who fills the hours rather than watching the clock.
How do you get to know a new client in the first week?
Why ask it
Look for curiosity about the person and not only the care plan: what they did for a living, how they take their coffee, what they like to be called. People accept help more easily from someone who has bothered to learn those things.
What do you do when someone refuses care?
Why ask it
Refusing a shower, refusing pills, refusing to get out of bed. The answer separates caregivers who back off and return later from those who either force it or give up and write it in the log.
How do you react when a client is angry with you or says something hurtful?
Why ask it
Pain, fear and dementia can all come out as anger. Hope to hear about stepping back, giving the person a few minutes and looking for the cause. A caregiver who describes arguing back, or who takes it as a personal insult, will find this job wearing.
What training have you had in Alzheimer's or dementia care, and what stage were the people you looked after?
Why ask it
Keeping company with someone who is forgetful and caring for someone who no longer speaks or walks unaided are close to different jobs. Ask which they have done and for how long. A dementia course can be a weekend or a term, so ask what theirs covered and who ran it.
What do you do when someone with dementia asks the same question over and over, or keeps asking to go home?
Why ask it
Correcting the person every time tends to upset both of them. Better answers involve replying as if it were the first time, a change of activity, or asking about the home they mean. Skip this one if memory loss is not part of the picture.
What does a good day look like for someone with Alzheimer's, and how do you set one up?
Why ask it
Listen for routine and for jobs the person can still do: the same order every morning, towels to fold, the table to lay, songs from when they were twenty. An answer built around your relative's old habits beats one built around the caregiver's timetable.
How do you talk with someone who can no longer find the word for what they want?
Why ask it
Good answers sound slow: one short question at a time, two things held up to choose between, an eye on the hands and the face. Be wary of anyone who describes speaking louder or finishing every sentence for the person.
What do you do when someone with dementia gets restless or upset late in the day?
Why ask it
Families often call this sundowning. Tell them what time your relative's usually starts, then listen for what they would do before that hour: lights on early, something to eat, a quieter house, the walk moved to the morning.
How do you answer when someone asks for a husband, wife or parent who has died?
Why ask it
Raise it before it happens, because families differ. Some want the truth told gently every time, and others would rather the caregiver ask about the person instead: what he was like, where they met. Say which you want and see whether they can work that way.
What would you do if the person did not know who you were one morning, or accused you of taking something?
Why ask it
Neither is personal, and an experienced dementia caregiver will say so. Hope to hear that they would give their name again without fuss, help look for the missing purse, and tell you about it that day so an accusation never reaches you as a surprise.
How do you stop someone from leaving the house alone without making them feel locked in?
Why ask it
Say whether your relative has gone out before and where they were heading. A practiced answer has two halves: something on the door, a chime or a moved coat rack, and a reason to go out together earlier in the day. Then ask what they would do in the first five minutes if the person were gone.
What in a house would you put away or switch off for someone whose memory is failing?
Why ask it
The stove, the car keys, the pill bottles and the cleaning cupboard are the usual answers. Ask how they would do it without the house starting to feel like someone else's.
What signs would tell you that someone with dementia should no longer be left alone for an hour?
Why ask it
Ask for real examples from an earlier job, such as a kettle left to boil dry or a client lost on the way back from the bathroom. Then agree that they will say so plainly when the job has outgrown the hours you booked.
Safety
How do you handle medications?
Why ask it
In many places a caregiver without a nursing license may remind and hand over but not administer, and the rule changes with the country, the state and the credential. Ask where that line sits for them, then check it against what your relative's pharmacist or doctor's office says.
What would you do if you noticed a dose had been missed or taken twice?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is that they tell you or the pharmacist straight away and write it down, without trying to correct it themselves at the next dose. Owning up quickly matters more than a claim never to have made a mistake.
Have you worked with equipment such as oxygen, a catheter or a blood sugar monitor, and what were you allowed to do with it?
Why ask it
Leave this out if there is none in the house. Where there is, what an unlicensed caregiver may touch differs from place to place, so ask who trained them on it and who they phoned when a reading looked wrong. Put the same question to your relative's nurse before the first shift.
What would you do first if you found the person you care for on the floor?
Why ask it
Listen for the order of steps: check for injury before moving anyone, call for help, then tell the family. If their first move would be to lift the person up alone, ask what their training said about that.
When would you call an ambulance, and when would you call me first?
Why ask it
You are testing judgment more than protocol. Hope to hear that chest pain, sudden confusion or a head injury gets the emergency call first and the call to you second. Whatever they say, keep the emergency number, your number and the house address on one card by the phone.
What would you do if you arrived and nobody answered the door?
Why ask it
It happens more often than families expect: a deep sleep, a hearing aid left out, or something worse. Agree on the order now, perhaps ring, phone the house, phone you, then use the lockbox key, so they are not left deciding alone on the doorstep.
What changes in a person would make you contact the family the same day?
Why ask it
Experienced caregivers notice the small shifts: eating less, new confusion, a different way of walking, a sore patch of skin, a low mood that does not lift. They spend more hours in the house than any nurse or doctor, so their eye for change is often how a problem gets seen early.
Looking around this house, what would you change to make a fall less likely?
Why ask it
Put this one to them while you walk through the rooms together. Someone who has done the work for a while will point at the loose rug, the dim hallway and the backless slippers before you have finished the question.
How do you avoid bringing an illness into the house?
Why ask it
Hand washing, gloves for personal care and staying away with a fever or a stomach bug are the basics. If the person is frail, say what you would like on vaccinations and masks and ask how that sits with them. What an employer may require differs from place to place.
Trust
Can I speak to two families you've worked for, including one where the job ended?
Why ask it
A family whose job has finished can talk about the whole of it, including the last week. Ask each one whether they would hire the caregiver again and what they would ask them to do differently. If the second name is slow to come, ask why.
Would you agree to a background check, and do you carry any insurance of your own?
Why ask it
A check needs the caregiver's consent, and what it covers and who may run one depends on where you live, so look that up before the interview. Independent caregivers sometimes carry their own liability policy, while agency staff are usually covered through the agency. Either way, ask your home insurer what happens if someone is hurt in the house.
Can you show me photo ID and proof that you are allowed to work here?
Why ask it
See the originals, not photos on a phone. What an employer has to check and record differs by country, so find out what applies where you live before the interview. A caregiver who has been hired privately before usually brings the documents without being asked.
How do you handle a client's money, shopping and receipts?
Why ask it
Cash in an envelope with receipts returned the same day protects the caregiver as much as the family. Be cautious of anyone who would rather use the client's bank card and PIN, however kindly it is offered.
What would you do if the person you care for offered you money or a gift?
Why ask it
Lonely people can be generous, and confused people can give the same thing away twice. A professional answer is that they would thank the person, decline anything beyond a small token, and tell you about it that day.
How do you keep a client's private life private?
Why ask it
Think back over how they have talked about earlier clients in this interview. If you now know another family's name, diagnosis and arguments, yours will be described the same way in the next house. Bring up photographs and social media as well.
What would you do if the person told you something and asked you not to tell the family?
Why ask it
An adult is entitled to some privacy from their own children, and a good caregiver respects that for ordinary things. The line is safety: a fall nobody mentioned, pills being hidden, a stranger asking for money. Hear where they would draw it.
How would you feel about a camera in the shared rooms of the house?
Why ask it
Raise it openly if you use one or plan to. Laws on recording inside a home, and on recording sound in particular, differ by state and country, so check yours first. Many caregivers accept cameras in shared rooms when told up front, and the reaction to being told is informative.
Hours and pay
Which days and hours can you work, and what other commitments sit around them?
Why ask it
Get the real week, including school pickup, a second job and the bus timetable. Hours that only work when everything goes right will fail on the first wet Monday.
What notice do you need if the schedule changes, and what notice will you give me?
Why ask it
Ask it in both directions, because the change is as likely to come from them. A caregiver with other clients may not be able to move a Tuesday for a hospital appointment at two days' notice, and it is better to learn that before the appointment letter arrives.
What happens if you're sick or your car won't start?
Why ask it
A private arrangement often has no backup at all, which is part of what an agency's fee buys. Find out whether they have someone they trust to send, or whether the gap becomes yours to fill at short notice, and decide now who your own stand-in would be.
Have you worked overnight, and would you expect to sleep or stay awake?
Why ask it
A waking night and a sleeping night are different jobs and are usually paid differently. Say honestly how often your relative gets up, because a caregiver who is woken five times and expected back the next morning will not stay long.
Do you already have vacation or time off planned this year?
Why ask it
Better to hear about three weeks in August now, while you can arrange cover, than two weeks beforehand. Go through public holidays too, since stand-ins are scarce on those days and often cost more.
How long do you hope to stay in a job like this one?
Why ask it
A change of caregiver is hard on someone who has only just got used to a new face, and harder with memory loss. A nursing student who will leave in a year can still be a good hire, provided you both know it and plan the handover.
What's your rate, what counts as overtime, and how do you want to be paid?
Why ask it
Go through holidays, mileage, overnight rates and what you owe if you cancel a shift that morning. Overtime for home care workers is set by law in some places and not in others, so find out what applies to you before you agree on a figure. Keep a record of hours and payments that both of you can see.
Are you self-employed, employed through an agency, or would I be your employer?
Why ask it
The answer decides who deals with tax, sick pay and insurance if someone is hurt, and the rules differ by country and often by state. Get proper advice on your own position before agreeing anything, because calling someone self-employed does not always make it so.
Would you be happy to put the duties, hours and pay in a written agreement we both sign?
Why ask it
One page is usually enough: tasks, schedule, rate, time off, notice, and who to call. It is what you will both reach for in the third month, when one of you remembers the housework differently. An experienced private caregiver may bring a version of their own, and it is worth reading before you draft yours.
Would you do a paid trial of a few shifts before we fix a schedule?
Why ask it
A trial lets your relative have a say after meeting the person properly, and lets the caregiver see the real job. Pay the full rate for it. Reluctance to be seen working is unusual and worth a follow-up question.
If this stops working for either of us, how do we end it?
Why ask it
Agree on the notice each side gives, when the last pay goes out, and how the keys, the alarm code and any shopping money come back. It feels rude to raise on a first meeting, and it is much harder to work out in the week someone is leaving.
Working together
How would you keep me updated, and how often?
Why ask it
Ask what form it takes: a written log kept in the house, a text at the end of each shift, a call only when something changes. Settle it now. A caregiver who assumes no news is good news and a family that assumes the opposite can go weeks without comparing notes.
How would you hand over to a family member or another caregiver at the end of a shift?
Why ask it
When more than one person is involved, the gap between shifts is where a missed pill or an untouched meal gets lost. A few written lines plus two minutes of talk at the door is usually enough. Ask what they would want to be told when they arrive.
Would you sit in on a medical appointment and report back what was said?
Why ask it
Some caregivers will take notes and ask the questions you send along, and others prefer to stay in the waiting room. Whichever it is, the person being cared for has to be happy to have them in the room, and the clinic may ask for that consent.
What would you do if two relatives asked you for opposite things?
Why ask it
It will happen, most often over food, outings or how hard to push the exercises. The workable reply is that they would follow the written plan and send both of you back to the one named contact. Decide who that is before the first shift.
How would you tell me if you thought something we had asked for was wrong?
Why ask it
You want someone who will say the shower chair is unsafe or the routine is not working, to your face and early. People who agree with everything in an interview often go quiet on the job and then leave without explaining why.
Would you be all right with no smoking, no visitors and only brief phone use during a shift?
Why ask it
Swap in the rules you really mean to keep. A caregiver with children has to be reachable by the school, so a total phone ban tends to get a yes in the interview and be ignored afterward. A counter-offer, such as checking messages while your relative naps, is a better sign than instant agreement.
Are you all right with pets, and is there anything about a home that would make the work hard for you?
Why ask it
Mention the dog, the cat, a smoker in the house, steep stairs or a long drive now. An allergy or a fear of dogs is nobody's fault, but it ends an arrangement fast if it comes out on the first morning.
What should we have ready in the house before your first day?
Why ask it
The requests tend to be practical: gloves and wipes, a written routine, the medication list, a spare key, one name to call. If they can reel off what they need, they are already picturing the first morning, and you leave with a shopping list.
What would you like to ask us, or the person you'd be caring for, before you decide?
Why ask it
The questions that come back show what they are weighing: the diagnosis and the routine, or only the hours and the rate. Someone who turns to your relative and asks what a good day looks like has already started the job. If an hour of your questions produces none of theirs, take note of it.
Hiring and Working With a Caregiver
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Write down what the job actually is
List the tasks for a normal day and the tasks for a bad day, with hours attached. Most mismatches come from a job that was described as companionship and turned out to include lifting and personal care.
Have the person being cared for in the room if they can be
They will notice things you do not, and the caregiver's manner toward them during the interview is better evidence than any answer given to you.
Check what your area requires
Rules on who may give medication, on background checks, and on tax and insurance for a private hire vary by state and country. Looking up the local position first lets you tell a careful answer from a confident guess.
Questions to ask an Alzheimer's caregiver
Add the dementia questions that close the daily care group to whatever else you ask, and say plainly what stage your relative is at and which hour of the day is hardest. Have the caregiver meet them at that hour if you can. A relative who is easy company at eleven in the morning can need quite different care at five, and the caregiver should see both.
Short on time: ten to ask first
On a first phone call, ask the five that open the list, then the ones on medications, finding someone on the floor, what happens when they are sick, references and rate. Those ten are usually enough to decide who is worth a visit. Keep the daily care questions for the house itself, where an answer can be shown as well as said, and leave out anything on dementia, medical equipment, driving or nights that does not apply to you.
Running a trial period
- 1Agree on a paid trial of a few shifts before committing to a schedule.
- 2Be present for part of the first shift, then leave for part of it.
- 3Keep a written log in the house from day one, with medication times and anything unusual.
- 4Sit down at the end of the trial and ask what would make the work easier.
- 5Confirm hours, rate, notice and emergency contacts in writing before continuing.
Signs to take seriously
- Unwillingness to give references, or references that cannot be reached.
- Reluctance to write anything down, including hours worked.
- Medication times that drift, or pills left out for later.
- The person being cared for becomes quiet or anxious around a particular shift.
- Money or small valuables that cannot be accounted for.
- Repeated late arrivals presented as unavoidable.
- A request for the person's bank card or PIN, or receipts that stop coming back.
- Free talk about earlier clients' diagnoses, money or family arguments.
Keep in the house where anyone can find it
- A current medication list with doses and times, plus the pharmacy number.
- Diagnoses, allergies and the primary doctor's contact details.
- Emergency contacts in order, with a note on who has authority to make decisions.
- A note of where any advance directive or power of attorney is kept, and who holds it.
- The daily log, kept in the same place every day.