- Caregiver.
- Self-Assessment.
- Review Role.
- How long have you been a caregiver for the Veteran?
- Does the Veteran currently live with you?
- How often do you provide caregiver support?
- How much support do you feel for your caregiver role?
Being a caregiver requires skills like having technical medical abilities and being a highly organized and detail-oriented worker. Because of the wide range of traits needed for success in this role, candidates should be prepared to address many behavior and activity-related questions and in some cases, should be prepared to show certifications and pass checks that confirm eligibility. In this article, we discuss what to expect in a caregiver interview and how to answer five common interview questions.
VA Caregivers Program Process PT 3 – Interview w/ my Provider
What to expect in a caregiver interview
A caregiver is someone who typically works with adults that have special needs and frequently require attendance from a medical professional. This includes the elderly, those in hospice care and people with other impactful medical conditions. Those looking for caregivers might seek out honesty, thoughtfulness and compassionate care when selecting someone to offer medical services to their loved one or a patient in their care.
For this reason, a caregiver interview might include questions that test your knowledge of healthcare principles, but will also likely present questions geared at learning more about you and your values. After all, if hired, you’ll likely be spending considerable time with patients, and possibly even in someone’s home, so it’s important to make sure you’re both a fit because of your skills and your overall demeanor.
Caregivers work in home health care, but also in clinics, hospitals, nonprofit shelters, group homes and other agencies that provide adult care.
What are important skills for a caregiver to have?
While a question like this might arise toward the beginning of the interview, it still requires a good degree of thoughtful consideration to answer thoroughly. If you’re being asked this question, you need to focus on measurable skills.
There are several skills you can choose from that a caregiver should have, but you’re being asked to determine the most important. Consider, for a moment, all the important skills displayed by caregivers. In this instance, it might be a good practice to prioritize skills that encourage the patient’s mental and physical well-being, including:
Example: “Caregivers must be good listeners and empathetic conversationalists. They should be detail-oriented, diligent problem solvers and have technical medical skills to apply to patients as needed. __In my last role as a home health aid, my client was feeling depressed. After a long, heartfelt talk with him, I learned he missed going outside.
I assisted his family in moving him into a room with a South-facing window so he could get more sunlight, even when he was on bed rest. I was able to use my problem-solving and communication skills to bring my client more peace, and I realized how important those soft skills are to the role. I also used my medical skills to help him get set back up with all the equipment he needed to thrive.”
Describe your work history
In a caregiver role, someone’s background can be vitally important. This question asks about previous work experience, which is a good indicator of success in the role. That said, questions about background might include some with binary answers like, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” or “Would you consent to a background check?”
If your job as a caregiver includes driving people from place to place, an employer may ask about your driving record. They will likely conduct a reference check and could even reserve the right to pull a credit check.
The idea behind background questions and checks is to get a full picture of your skills, values and abilities, so use questions like these to display you’re a right fit for the interviewer.
Example: “I’ve worked in many healthcare roles. I started my career as a medical assistant for Emexee Health after receiving a vocational degree in medical assisting and achieving certification. During that time, I worked primarily in home health, traveling from client to client.
After a few years of experience, the Fort Hampton Group Home hired me__ as an overnight caregiver. I worked as the sole attendee for the elderly ward. Later, I was hired to work independently as a caregiver to one of my clients. I feel most comfortable in home health care, since that’s where I started my career journey, and it brings me a lot of joy and fulfillment knowing I’m doing good things as I see people through some of their most difficult years and life transitions.”
Please submit your question or comment and we will promptly respond. If necessary, we will consult an expert for accurate response. Prior Q&A is to the right, and we may contact you for clarification if needed. No response will be provided for inappropriate questions, and similar questions will receive a single response.
Application and Evaluation Process
The following outlines the steps of the evaluation process that the Caregiver Support Program uses to determine if a veteran qualifies for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The process utilizes standardized forms available through VHA and posted in medical records. The forms cannot be altered.
For new applicants (including non-Post 9/11 veterans), the evaluation process for PCAFC begins with the submission of your VA Form 10-10 CG, Step 1 below. The local Caregiver Support Program handles the review process for both new and Legacy applicant.
Click on the steps below for a more detailed description.
This form gathers basic information such as dates of service of the veteran, rated disabilities, and other biographical and logistical information about the veteran and caregiver. It includes basic information about age, address, etc.
This is an interview in which both the veteran and caregiver are asked a set of questions. The interviewer may ask what the veteran is rated for, what diagnoses they have, and what medications they are on. Even if they do not ask these questions, you should check with the interviewer to make sure all of this information is complete and correct because it is an important evaluation requirement. The VA CSP interviewer usually just copies and pastes this information out of the record. Again, you should carefully review this information once it is placed into MyHealtheVet because it is not uncommon to have errors that are best corrected at this time. Do not trust that the VA has the ratings, diagnoses, or medications correct.
This is also the time to tell the VA CSP if the veteran sees outside doctors. If the veteran sees outside doctors, then please gather those records from those doctors, including community care doctors.Do NOT assume that VA has them.
There will be a standard set of questions that the interviewer, usually a social worker, will ask both the veteran and the caregiver about what the veteran’s employment, educational, substance abuse/mental health history, etc. are.The interview will move on to history of pain, dietary concerns, daily diet, exercise routine, etc. The interview will also include other topics such as treatment goals and changes in health. The interviewer will ask the veteran if (s)he feels that the caregiver is supporting their treatment goals. The last question for the veteran will be about home services the VA provides.
In the caregiver portion of the interview, there are specific questions about how the caregiver provides assistance with each ADL. If you have been at this for a long time, it is helpful to write down what you do each day to make sure that you capture all of the assistance you are providing and how you do so. (Some of it becomes so rote that you forget that it actually is a caregiver duty.)
They will also ask if the caregiver has concerns about the veteran’s sleeping habits, memory, treatment goals, concerns for the veteran’s safety, preparations the caregiver has in place if they are going to be away from the veteran, and if there are any concerns that the caregiver has about the veteran. This is your chance to list all the extra concerns about the veteran’s care that you have or duties which you perform that you have not been able to fit in one of the above answers.
This functional assessment/interview is done by a different person than the Veteran Assessment.They will NOT have read your answers to the Veteran assessment, so give complete answers to questions they may ask and provide information you feel is relevant to the assessments they are doing.
The Veteran Functional Assessment is required to be performed by a health professional, most likely the nurse assigned to the Caregiver Support Program.VA has very specific definitions of each ADL and Supervision, Protection, and Instruction criteria. (See the sheets on the ADL assessment and the SPI assessment.) The CSP staff will request the caregiver describe what they do for the veteran for each ADL. Be as specific and as expansive as possible. Describe what makes it necessary for you to do each thing for the veteran—for example in toileting, if you say I must clean the veteran’s bottom after defecating each time, say why—such as he is missing both arms. Always say what you do, why you do it, and how often you do it (each time, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
For the safety and supervision portion of the assessment, they will ask a set of specific questions. Expound on each and every question that is relevant. Answer with what you do, why you do it, and how often you do it. Never just say, “I help with medication management.” Instead say, ““I help with medication management of ___# of medications because the veteran cannot manage them due to _____________, and I must do this (each time, daily, weekly, monthly – however often you have to do it).” If meds are given, once a day say that. If you monitor medication the veteran is taking, explain why you have to do that. If you have to monitor the friends and family of the veteran because she/he is easily exploitable due to judgement issues, say so, and explain what disability causes that to be so, and how often/in what situations it happens.
There will be a series of questions about self-direction, exploitation, self-neglect, memory, etc. Once again, be very specific. State what diagnosis requires you to do each thing and how often. The Caregiver Support Personnel will write down your answers, but then they are required to assign the veteran/caregiver a functional level based on each ADL or SPI (See the sheet on the ADL assessment and the SPI assessment). At the end, it is important that you add whatever concerns you have or duties you perform that have not yet been covered. Make sure you read over the information recorded during this assessment and correct any misinformation as soon as this information is uploaded to MyHealtheVet.
The Caregiver Support Program team is required to contact the Primary Care Manager (PCM) in order to ask a few questions. The question that appears to be weighted most heavily is, “Without a caregiver, would the veteran require institutionalization?” Another key question is, “Does the caregiver understand the treatment plan?”
Normally, this questionnaire is only sent to the PCM. HOWEVER, it is strongly suggested that you urge the CSP to ask questions of the veteran’s other specialized doctors. For example, if your caregiving centers on Alzheimer’s, urge the CSP to talk to the neurologist who manages the condition. If the caregiving needs revolve around a spinal cord injury, then the person who manages the chronic pain, the doctor who orders PT, the physical therapist, etc. should also be contacted.
For mental health disorders, ask them to reference the last neuropsych examination, talk to the treating psychiatrist and psychologist/LCSW (licensed clinical social worker). Note that the standardized evaluation form only requires the CSP team and PCM to go back 12 months from the date of the start of the Legacy review. Therefore, you need to tell the assessor specific concerns that may not have been addressed in the past 12 months, but lend credence to the need for a caregiver—things such as a neuropsych assessment, loss of part of the brain or the body, or the extent of a spinal cord injury. Do NOT depend on your doctors to do this paperwork. Read it over when it is entered in MyHealthEVet to make sure that it is accurate and get it corrected immediately, if necessary.
Once all these pieces are completed, the assessment is sent off to the Centralized Eligibility Assessment Team (CEAT). The decision is made at that level by a team of medical staff that is separate from your local Caregiver Support Program team. The CEAT notifies your team of their decision, and your local team will notify you of the CEAT decision. The target timeline from application submission to initial approval/denial determination is 90 days.
If the veteran and caregiver are approved for the program, several more steps must be completed before the veteran and caregiver are able to receive pay. These include: (1) caregiver training and (2) an in home assessment of health of both the veteran and caregiver. This in home assessment is to ensure the caregiver is able to provide care safely (both mentally and physically). After these steps, the application returns to the CEAT for final approval. Pay is backdated to the date of the application to the program.
If the veteran and caregiver are denied, the veteran and caregiver will be referred to the Program of General Caregiver Support Services.
Dec 29, 2020#34 2020-12-29T16:06In a pandemic year with all the lockdowns and physicians not wanting to see patients in the flesh, there will be scant records of visits.
Dec 11, 2020#4 2020-12-11T23:34The SW does not make the decision. He:she has an interview to see if you very basically fit the required profile. Then the occupation therapist has an interview also. Then is put together by the SW and forwarded to the regional headquarters over your hospital group. That’s where the decision is made. There seems to be desperate treat of the packages between hospitals. One guy applied 1 October and was denied with a letter dated September 9th! So go figure… I don’t know of any approved yet except one vet with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. I’m out of the Loma Linda group. Things seem to be moving along. We will see! In my case they did look back at a year of records. If your not seen at the VA you should submit your private Drs notes for at least that far back. 100% P and T
Dec 11, 2020#3 2020-12-11T22:39JNoxon…How you doin…I been reading some of your posts and have also applied…I would like to see who on the VBN Site has been approved..The interviewer in my case stated that each VAMC has different rules as to who will be admitted to the program. I think that is not just and totally unfair..How can a Social Worker in one place have different rules than another VAMC. I also feel that a Social Worker should not be the person to make a decision. I have read that some base their opinion on the VAMC medical records for the past year…I have been to my VAMC once in the past year for a CT Scan only…That be the case I guess that I am in really good shape…If that be the way most qualify a veteran then we are all screwed..JMHO…Bill
Feb 25, 2021#39 2021-02-25T18:56Call the Social Worker you spoke to to and ask where you are in the process. 100% P and T
Mar 09, 2021#40 2021-03-09T17:21We are a few days short of 160 days since initial app. The CEAT has had it for over a month according to the social worker. If they are gonna deny us I wish they’d hurry up and just do it.
FAQ
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