Companion care
Companion care: company, outings, and someone checking in
Companion care is for older adults who are mostly safe on their own but spend too many hours alone. A caregiver visits for conversation, activities, and outings, and notices when something at home isn’t right.
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
Loneliness is a health problem
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on loneliness. It linked social isolation to a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and dementia. For older adults, isolation often starts after a spouse dies, after driving stops, or when friends move away or pass on.
Companion care doesn’t replace family. It fills the hours between your visits and phone calls, and gives your parent something to look forward to.
What a companion caregiver does
Conversation and company
Coffee and talk, reading the paper together, watching the ballgame, looking through old photo albums.
Activities
Cards, puzzles, gardening, cooking a favorite recipe together, music, or a religious service on TV or in person.
Outings
A walk around the neighborhood, lunch out, the library, the beach, a senior center, or a visit to a friend.
Rides and errands
Trips to appointments, the pharmacy, the grocery store, or the hair salon.
Technology help
Setting up video calls with grandchildren, sorting mail, working the TV remote or a new phone.
Light help around the house
Dishes, a load of laundry, or a simple meal while they’re there.
What a regular visitor notices
A caregiver who sees your parent every few days notices changes a weekly phone call misses:
- Food going bad in the fridge, or meals not being eaten
- Mail and bills piling up
- Pill organizer compartments still full
- The house too hot or too cold
- New bruises, or trouble getting out of a chair
- More confusion or repetition than last week
When the caregiver sees a change, they tell the family and our office. Our founder is a registered nurse, and she helps decide whether a change means a call to the doctor.
Who companion care fits
- Someone who lives alone and gets around the house safely
- Someone who has stopped driving and doesn’t get out much
- Someone with early memory loss, for whom routine and reminders help
- A spouse who is the main caregiver and needs another adult to talk to
- Someone recently widowed
If your parent needs hands-on help with bathing or the toilet, that’s personal care. Many visits mix both, and the care plan can change as needs change.
Matching on personality
For companion care, the match matters more than anything else. We ask about your parent’s old job, interests, faith, language, and sense of humor, and what would drive them crazy. A retired machinist might want someone who likes baseball and crosswords. Someone else wants a quiet presence and a slow walk.
Companion care is billed at our hourly rate, $40 to $48 an hour. A common starting point is two or three visits a week.
Where we provide this care
Related care
Personal Care
Help with bathing, dressing, toileting, and getting in and out of bed or a chair, with an eye on fall risk.
Homemaking & Home Helper
Light housekeeping, laundry, cooking, groceries, errands, and rides to appointments.
Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care
Care built around routine and calm redirection for someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
Common questions
My mother says she doesn’t need a babysitter. How do we start?
Don’t call it care. Frame the first visits around something she wants done, like a trip to the store, organizing photos, or help with a project. Keep the same caregiver so it becomes a relationship, not a service.
What’s the difference between companion care and personal care?
Companion care is company, activities, errands, and light help. Personal care adds hands-on help with bathing, dressing, and the toilet. A caregiver can do both in the same visit.
Can the caregiver take my father to appointments?
Yes. Rides to appointments and errands are part of our services. We’ll go over how it works, including whose car is used, during the consultation.
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