Levels of care
How much care, and how often
Most families have no idea how many hours they need, and guessing high is expensive while guessing low is worse. These are the three shapes most schedules take. Almost nobody stays in one forever — recovery cases usually start higher and taper, and ongoing care often grows slowly over years.
Tier 1
Daily Support
Up to 4 hours a day, up to 5 days a week (about 20 hours a week)
What it covers. Mornings or evenings — the two hardest parts of the day. Bathing and dressing, breakfast or supper, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and company.
Who it fits. Someone managing well overall but struggling with specific parts of the day. Also the most common taper point after a recovery case.
about $3,600 a month at the weekday rate
Tier 2
Extended Care
8 hours a day, 5 days a week (about 40 hours a week)
What it covers. A full day of support — all meals, personal care, mobility, appointments and errands, with someone present through the parts of the day where falls and confusion happen.
Who it fits. Most recovery cases in the first two to three weeks home, and families where the primary caregiver works.
about $7,300 a month at the weekday rate
Tier 3
Around the Clock
24-hour coverage, staffed in shifts
What it covers. Continuous presence, including overnight. Staffed by multiple caregivers on rotating shifts so nobody is working unsafe hours.
Who it fits. High-risk periods after a discharge, late-stage dementia where nights are unsafe, or a family bridging a gap before a longer-term decision.
figure to be confirmed — 24-hour coverage is quoted individually
We only take 24-hour cases when we can genuinely staff them. We will tell you if we cannot.
Figures are worked from our rates of $42 an hour on weekdays and $45 an hour on weekends, and assume weekday hours — schedules with weekend hours cost a little more. Estimate your own hours.
Plans change
Moving between tiers
Plans change, and they should. A recovery case often starts at Extended Care and drops to Daily Support by week three. Ongoing care usually moves the other way, slowly.
We review every plan at ninety days, or the moment something changes, and you can adjust up or down with a week's notice. There is no contract holding you at a level you have outgrown.
The ceiling
What none of these tiers include
The limits are the same at every level, because they are about what one trained caregiver can do safely — not about how many hours you buy.
- Two-person or mechanical-lift transfers
- Feeding anyone with a swallowing risk, and never by tube
- Nursing, therapy, wound care, injections or medication administration
- Any household that needs more than one trained caregiver in the room
If a situation needs any of that, we will tell you on the first call and point you to someone who can help. What we do and do not do.