Frequently Asked Questions

Your Questions Answered

Below is the most important information you may need before beginning a care journey with Comfort Keepers. If you have any questions that are not answered below, please feel free to contact us and we can help you out.

What is homecare?

Although homecare can refer to medical support in the home, it’s a broad term. More often than not homecare covers a range of non-medical services, like those that Comfort Keepers provides. These include personal care, companionship and housekeeping duties. In a nutshell, homecare covers any extra help you or a loved one might need to carry on living a fulfilled and independent life at home. A team of experienced professionals from nursing or social care backgrounds put together all care plans for our clients. Our highly qualified Clinical Nurse Managers oversee this whole process.

Why choose Comfort Keepers?

Comfort Keepers prides itself in setting the gold standard for non-medical homecare services in Ireland. Our award-winning team of carers, led by our Clinical Nurse Managers, is there to enable the elderly, or any adult, to live a happy, purposeful life. Comfort Keepers is a HSE preferred homecare provider with offices nationwide.

All our carefully selected carers undergo rigorous training programmes and screening checks. We’re proud that very close to 100 percent of our clients say they would recommend us and that they trust us to provide safe and effective care. Our services are available to communities throughout almost all of Ireland.

For more information about that benefits of Comfort Keepers’ homecare, head here.

What’s our history?

Comfort Keepers began in Ireland in 2005 to assist families in keeping their loved ones happy and independent at home. The business developed to meet the need for someone to assist clients with their non-medical needs, including companionship and a helping hand at home.

“Comfort Keepers” was based on the company’s goal: to keep clients comfortably at home as an alternative to nursing homes.

In Ireland, Comfort Keepers is an HSE preferred homecare provider and has a string of high-profile awards and accolades to its name. It has developed a reputation for providing high-quality, affordable homecare.

Today, the company is the solution for uplifting in-home care services to thousands of clients every day.

Our quality and dedication to our mission are honoured by industry leaders and we are consistently recognised as a leader in home care for older people.

What kind of services does Comfort Keepers provide?

We provide a range of services to meet your care needs. These include:

• Personal Care
• Companionship Care
• Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care
• Disability Care
• Respite Care
• Palliative Care
• Long-Term & Specialised Care

Read more about our care services here.

What do our carers do?

Our team of friendly, professional carers provides “at home” assistance to older people and other adults in need. By doing this we help to ensure the continued physical and mental wellbeing of our clients in the place where they feel most content- in their home. The goal is to help individuals continue to live happy and fulfilled lives at home for as long as possible.

Our carers offer companionship and undertake personal care responsibilities. They can provide mobility, safety assistance as well as help with meals, housework and errands. They’re there to make a positive impact by encouraging social engagement, a sense of purpose and healthy lifestyle choices. Head here to read about our activities of daily living. 

What is the difference between a Carer, a Home Carer, and a Home Support Worker?

There are many terms used to describe the members of our team who visit clients and provide care. Carers and Home Support Workers, and also Healthcare Assistants, all carry out the same care and tasks as each other and they are simply different terms to describe the same role.

What are the benefits of care by Comfort Keepers?

Being able to carry on living in your own home for as long as possible means you’ll remain part of your community. That sense of belonging is so important because it can be an integral part of a person’s identity.

Home is where we make memories and keep reminders of times and places that we treasure. This is especially useful for those who may be suffering from any form of dementia. Living in a familiar place can reduce confusion and improve mental engagement. It also removes the stress of moving to a new and unfamiliar environment.

Living at home is also likely to be more cost-effective when compared with living in a care facility or care home. To learn more about the benefits of homecare, head here.

What makes us different?

Our carers always go the extra mile. Their role is not simply to get jobs done but also to engage with their clients. The focus on empathetic caregiving helps to develop relationships. It encourages those in need of care to stay physically and mentally active.

Our style of personalised care is something our clients look forward to because it improves their quality of life. Led by our expert Clinical Nurse Managers, our carers make a positive impact on the physical and mental well-being of their clients and their families. We also provide exceptional levels of training to our team – Comfort Keepers is the only QQI certified homecare company in Ireland, meaning our team have constant access to the best learning and development available.

What do Comfort Keepers clients say about us?

Nothing beats a recommendation! We’re incredibly proud that very close to 100 percent of our clients say they would recommend us and that they trust us to provide safe and effective care.

Our carers lie at the heart of Comfort Keepers. They make all the difference to the quality of life of those they care for. You can read more here about what our clients, past and present, say about us.

What do we look for when hiring?

We select carers who have something special that makes them want to follow their chosen career path. Our carers will feel naturally drawn to what we consider to be a vocation. All our carers are kind, compassionate and professional. Always friendly and cheerful, the carers we choose will make a positive impact on the lives of those they help to look after.

We also look for experience, both in personal and professional settings. While we believe in upskilling and development for new starts in the care industry, we take steps to hire people with qualifications and care backgrounds.

What kind of training do Comfort Keepers receive?

Our highly valued carers have to successfully pass an in-person interview with a member of our HR team. After that, we will carry out a range of formal checks. This includes Garda vetting. There then follows a rigorous and thorough induction course.

We value learning so highly that we’ve even set up our own in-house training company.

Once they begin working for us, our carers undergo a continuous development programme. Extra online training is always available too. You can find more information here about what we expect from our carers and more details about the training we give them.

Frequently Asked Questions — Getting Started

How do I get started with Comfort Keepers and are there any initial fees?

Just call us on 01 8921302 or email us at care@comfortkeepers.ie. We’d love to hear from you.

You can also get in touch with us online here by filling in a “contact us” form. All initial consultations are free of charge. There are no hidden fees or start-up assessment costs with Comfort Keepers.

You can also download one of our brochures here.

What does the Starting Care Process look like with Comfort Keepers?

A team of Clinical Nurse Managers runs each of our regional offices. They will oversee all the care plans tailored to individual clients. This starts with an initial “at home” assessment and consultation.

These individualised Home Support Plans (formerly called Care Plans) will match a person’s needs with the number of recommended hours and type of help required. Our Clinical Nurse Managers or a Client Services Manager will then personally introduce clients to the carers assigned to them. Family members are welcome to join in on this first meeting. In fact, in many instances, we encourage this.

After this, our Client Nurse Managers will carry out regular reviews of all care plans to ensure continued satisfaction.

When are Comfort Keepers’ carers available?

At Comfort Keepers, we work around you. Our team of carers is available 24/7, 365 days a year for as little as half an hour and for as long as you need them. There is also always someone you can talk to in an emergency.

What if I don’t get on with my assigned carer?

This can happen from time to time, we want everyone to be happy with their carer. Their visits should be something you or a loved one looks forward to. If at any time or for any reason you’d prefer to change your carer, just let us know. We’ll make sure that this happens by finding an alternative carer you’re completely comfortable with.

How can I be sure that my carer will always arrive on time?

Comfort Keepers operates a highly sophisticated telemonitoring system. It alerts our head office in the event of someone not clocking into a visit on time. This allows us to react swiftly and resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

What happens if my regular carer is sick or unavailable?

Our aim is to provide maximum consistency but sometimes we may have to replace your carer with someone else. We will try our hardest to keep this kind of disruption as infrequent as we can.

Will I only ever need one carer?

Some people may need homecare every day of the week. In these kinds of cases, we would only use the same carer for the maximum number of hours allowed under current employment laws. That might mean having more than one regular carer involved in a person’s homecare plan. If hoist transfers are part of their duties, two carers would have to come to your home at any one time.

How can my Carer help with my medication?

Although our carers can’t prescribe, dispense or administer medicines, they can provide support to those who take medication. For example, they can offer advice about ways to adhere to a course of drugs and stay compliant with doctors’ orders. 

Frequently Asked Questions — Financing, Payment & Taxation

I have a HSE Homecare Package. Can I make Comfort Keepers my provider?

Yes. Comfort Keepers is proud to be an HSE preferred homecare provider. This follows a rigorous tender process. It’s simple to select Comfort Keepers for the homecare services you need. We would then deal directly with the HSE for payment.

You can find out more about how this works here or call us on 01 8921302.

Is there any help available to pay for the homecare services I need?

The HSE Home Support Service can provide a certain level of homecare cover for those aged over 65. This is free of charge and there is no means-testing requirement. Comfort Keepers is an HSE preferred provider of homecare services. You can find out more about here how you could choose Comfort Keepers for any homecare paid for by the HSE.

If you need more hours of homecare than the HSE will subsidise or if you are 65 or under, there is help available through tax relief. You can find out more about that here. If you have a disability, there is a range of benefits available through the Department of Social Protection or HSE that you could use for homecare. You can find out more here about Disability Allowance (DA), for example.

Who will pay my Carer’s Tax and will they have sufficient insurance?

Comfort Keepers takes care of the admin related to all those who work for them. This includes ensuring tax compliance as well as the holding of adequate types of insurance. Our fully managed service means you will benefit from carers employed by us who receive expert training. Our staff have high levels of management and clinical oversight. This ensures you’ll receive a high-quality service at all times.