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Personal Care

Hands-on care, with dignity, by a certified PSW.

Everything in Home Help, plus personal care from a certified personal support worker: bathing, dressing, the toilet and moving around safely. Personal Care is only ever given by PSWs.
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$39/hour

A young woman steadies an older man's arm as he gets up from a wicker chair

What's included

  • Bathing, showering, grooming and oral care
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Toileting and continence care
  • Moving around safely: getting up, transfers and walking
  • Support at home after a hospital stay
  • Everything in Home Help and Companionship

Not included

  • Nursing care, such as injections or wound care
  • Giving, sorting or managing medication
  • Anything a nurse or doctor should do

Who provides it

A certified PSW (a PSW certificate or equivalent, which Nearkin checks), plus everything every Nearkin caregiver completes: interview, references, a vulnerable sector police check and Nearkin training, including the standards for personal care.

How we screen caregivers

Families often choose it when

  • Your parent is unsteady in the shower or on the stairs
  • They need help getting dressed or using the toilet
  • They're coming home from hospital and need extra help for a few weeks
  • You've been doing the personal care yourself and need a break
A young man and an older woman walk arm in arm along a tree-lined path, both laughing

What a visit can look like

A two-hour morning visit: help getting up and to the bathroom, a shower with a bath seat, getting dressed, breakfast, and tidying the bathroom after. Your parent decides how things are done.

After a hospital stay

Ask the hospital about Ontario Health atHome before discharge: they may arrange nursing and some personal support at no cost. Nearkin can add hours on top, for the times public care doesn't cover.

How to get government-funded home care

Common questions

Is every Personal Care caregiver a PSW?

Yes. Personal Care is only booked with caregivers whose PSW certificate (or equivalent) Nearkin has checked.

Can a PSW give my parent their medication?

No. Nearkin caregivers never give, sort or manage medication. They can remind your parent if you ask.

Is this covered by OHIP?

No. Nearkin is private, paid by the hour. Government-funded home care comes through Ontario Health atHome, and many families use both.

Nearkin does not provide nursing or medical services, such as injections, wound care or managing medication doses. For those, ask Ontario Health atHome (call 310-2222, no area code) or your parent's doctor.

Not sure which level? Take the care level quizEstimate a week or a month of care

Tell us what your parent needs.

We'll match a caregiver who lives nearby. No subscription, no contract.

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