24-hour and live-in care
24-hour and live-in care: when someone can’t be alone
When your parent can’t safely be alone at any hour, there are two ways to cover it at home: caregivers working in shifts, or one live-in caregiver. They cost very different amounts, and the right choice depends mostly on what happens at night.
Licensing and caregiver screening
Licensed Home Care OrganizationCDSS license #374700397
Caregivers on the state registryLive Scan fingerprint check (CA DOJ and FBI) and TB test
Owned by a registered nurseMildred Kiminyei, RN
Signs your parent needs someone there around the clock
- Getting up at night and falling, or trying to leave the house
- Needing help to the bathroom several times a night
- Advanced dementia, with sundowning or wandering
- Recovery from a major surgery or illness
- The end of life, often alongside hospice
- A spouse who has been doing the nights and can’t safely keep going
Shift care or live-in care
Shift care
Two caregivers work 12-hour shifts, or three work 8-hour shifts. Someone is always awake and working. This is the right choice for anyone who needs help during the night.
Live-in care
One caregiver lives in the home for a stretch of days. California labor rules require that they get sleep time, meal breaks, and rest breaks, plus a private place to sleep. This works for someone who sleeps through most nights.
The deciding question
How often does your parent need help at night? If it’s regularly more than once, a live-in caregiver can’t get the sleep they need, and shift care is the safe choice.
What round-the-clock care costs
Shift care is billed for every hour. At our hourly rate of $40 to $48 an hour, 24 hours a day comes to about $29,200 to $35,040 a month.
Live-in care is usually billed as a daily rate and costs less, because the caregiver’s sleep time isn’t billed the same way.
Live-in is quoted as a daily rate. What that rate is depends on your parent’s nights, whether the caregiver gets a reliable block of sleep, and how many days in a row they stay. We quote it on the first call and write it into the service agreement before care starts.
Compared with assisted living or a nursing home
For most families, 24-hour shift care at home costs more than assisted living, memory care, or a nursing home. Families choose it anyway when the person strongly wants to stay home, when a spouse lives there too, or when round-the-clock care is needed for a limited time, like after surgery or near the end of life.
If full-time care at home isn’t affordable for the long run, tour a few residential care homes and assisted living communities too. Knowing the options early makes the decision easier if it comes.
How round-the-clock care is staffed
Round-the-clock care needs a small team, not one person, so a sick day or a vacation doesn’t leave a gap. Every caregiver on the team works from the same care plan, and each shift change includes a handoff: how the night went, what was eaten, and anything that changed.
Whether that means two caregivers on twelve-hour shifts or three on eight-hour shifts depends on the care needed and the schedule. We set the pattern out in the care plan, with names and times, before care starts.
Where we provide this care
Related care
Respite Care
A caregiver takes over for a few hours, a night, or a week so the family member who usually helps can rest.
Post-Surgery & Hospital-to-Home Care
Help in the first days and weeks home from the hospital, when falls and readmissions are most likely.
Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care
Care built around routine and calm redirection for someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
Common questions
Can one caregiver work 24 hours a day?
Not day after day. California labor rules require sleep, meal, and rest breaks. That’s why true round-the-clock coverage uses shifts, or a rotating team of live-in caregivers.
Does hospice provide 24-hour care?
Usually not. Hospice sends nurses, aides, and other staff for visits, but the family is expected to provide or arrange the rest of the care. Many families add caregivers from a home care agency alongside hospice.
Is 24-hour care at home cheaper than a nursing home?
Usually not, if it’s shift care. Live-in care costs less and can come closer. Home care costs the same whether the person needs a little help or a lot, so it’s most affordable when fewer hours are needed.
Request a free in-home consultation
Tell us what’s going on and we’ll call you back to talk it through and set up a visit at the home. The consultation is free.
If it’s urgent, call instead of using the form.
- (858) 380-9599
- love@pendaseniorhomecare.com
- Office hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Care available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week