Caregiver + Care Coordinator

Hello! I’m looking for a Caregiver + Care Coordinator who is part of a small caregiving team in my private home. This position functions as my primary caregiver, medical coordinator, advocate, and team support role. This caregiver will act as a buffer and liaison between me, my PCA team, and healthcare providers, as well as supporting my access to medical care and treatments. You will be the core part of my caregiving team.

This position will be 3-4 weekdays per week, and 20-30hours per week, with shifts typically falling between 10am and 6pm. We will decide the exact schedule from the options below, depending on the availability and skill set of the candidate. Our goal is to find the schedule that best supports Julie’s needs while also being a good long-term fit for the candidate.

Potential schedule options include

Option A

• Four weekdays (approximately 20-30 hours), with shifts averaging about 5-7.5 hours, depending on the total number of hours.
• Working Tuesday through Friday with Monday off. Thursday off may be possible instead.

Option B

* Three weekdays (approximately 20-25 hours), with shifts averaging about 6.5-8 hours. Working Tuesday Wednesday Friday.

The exact schedule will be discussed before hiring and finalized with the candidate. Once established, we strive to keep the schedule as consistent as possible, while recognizing that occasional flexibility is an important part of working on a small caregiving team.

Though infrequent, this role will occasionally require some flexibility to help cover PCAs who call out sick or who need coverage for time off. Everyone on the team covers for each other.

This position is intended to function as someone’s primary job, since flexibility and dependability is very important for my safety and wellbeing. For that reason, if you have additional outside work or school, it must be flexible and secondary to this position.

About me: I am a disabled female science educator, musician and artist in my early 50s who uses a wheelchair. I don't have much use of my hands, so I need help with almost all aspects of my life and health at home. I have severe chronic pain which limits my ability to function on a daily basis. Also, I had a jaw injury a few years ago which makes it difficult for me to talk. I can only talk in small amounts at a time. I do almost all of my communication via dictation/texting, so it is important that you are comfortable reading written instructions, leaving me notes, and texting back and forth throughout the day. Because of my pain levels, it has gotten difficult for me to leave the house safely, so most of my medical care is arranged in the home whenever possible. I occasionally need to attend in-person appointments, which require advance coordination with the provider.

This position would require us to work closely together and collaborate on my care and on the day to day systems that support running the household and PCA team. I believe in person- centered caregiving and it’s important for me to continue to make important decisions and preserve my autonomy as much as I can. This caregiving role is a very important partner to me in that!

You would be joining a team of other PCAs who care for me. It's a wonderful team of skilled, caring people with interesting life experience. This team shares notes, coordinates my daily care, and covers for each other on occasion as needed. My family lives in other states but are very supportive remotely.

This position is an excellent opportunity for someone seeking a stable, long-term caregiving role where you can truly make a difference. You’ll have the chance to build a meaningful long-term relationship with a fun, vibrant client while providing high-quality support and advocacy. This role is especially well-suited for someone who is intellectually curious, interested in learning about research-based and holistic medicine treatments, and motivated to further develop their advocacy skills.

I am looking for someone with LPN, CNA or equivalent clinical background OR extensive hands-on medical experience caring for disabled people and a strong understanding of medical systems, terminology, and care coordination.

The ideal candidate is dedicated to supporting my well-being, is caring, and responsible. Careful planning, multitasking, organization, and attention to detail are required. Communication is primarily through texting and written notes, and you would need to be responsive and proactive about checking in on details, asking questions when necessary, and being sensitive to the fact that some days I may be in increased pain or have even more limited energy.

The role requires flexibility, reliability, honesty, care, good communication, and a collaborative spirit. There is a need for this position to adapt to my changing needs and a potential for it to grow in size and take on more responsibilities over time. Most importantly, this is not just a job, it is a long-term role in my daily life.

Key Responsibilities

Hands On Caregiving and Daily Support

• Help with light personal care: Assist with putting on my compression stockings, helping me shower, occasionally dressing, and light personal care as needed.
• Get out my meals and water as needed.
• Help with anything else that is needed for my daily comfort such as adjusting my bedding or pillows, etc.
• Have good attention to detail, whether that be to important details of my medical care and logistics, details about my daily needs and accommodations, household details etc.

Medical Care Coordination and Treatments

• You must have the background, experience, and ability to synthesize my medical history, records, and ongoing clinical findings to advocate on my behalf. We will train you on medical details as needed, depending on your background and experience.
• Medical care coordination, support, and advocacy across mainstream and naturopathic providers.
• Be my advocate and skillfully educate providers about my condition and functional limitations. Patience and persistence in getting the right medical care for me is necessary.
• Attend in-home, clinic, or hospital medical appointments and assist with supporting my care needs, planning, coordination, communication, transportation, detailed note-taking, and follow-up.
• Speak on my behalf at medical appointments in alignment with my goals and decisions.
• Correspond with doctors’ offices, schedule and track appointments, manage healthcare portals, and communicate clinical information effectively to support my care needs.
• Assist with urgent and time-sensitive medical needs that arise (e.g., coordinating visits, prescriptions, or provider communication).
• Organize and update medical information, treatment plans, and medications/supplements in electronic systems.
• Refill medication and supplement bottles, order prescription medication refills and supplements. Manage medications and supplements accurately in a detailed spreadsheet.
• Help with in-home medical treatments such as red light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ozone therapy, or injections. You do not need prior experience with these, we will train you on all of them as needed. Currently most of these medical treatments are paused, but I hope to resume them soon.
• Willing and able to drive either of the 2 wheelchair-accessible vehicles if I need to attend an appointment outside of my home, with training from family.

Communication & Team Coordination

• Must be able to synthesize written information from multiple sources, create and edit documents accurately and efficiently, and work independently with detailed written instructions.
• Use a task management app to follow instructions left by me, organize tasks to do, and communicate updates to me.
• Communicate regularly with family members regarding medical issues, care, and treatment.
• Participate in planning or coordination meetings and provide detailed written updates.
• Communicate regularly with other caregivers/PCAs to coordinate medical care, tasks, research, and next steps.
• You must be able to learn and to process verbal and written information with ease.
• You must have strong computer skills to use Apple products, Google drive, google documents and google spreadsheets, navigate doctor portals, and overall use digital devices with ease after a small amount of training. (Texting, iPad apps, MacBook, etc.) You must be able to learn new apps and workflows independently and quickly. You must have a reasonably fast typing speed.

Household Support

• Light household tasks such as tidying the kitchen, washing dishes, caring for my cat, laundry, or occasionally helping with an errand or something I need a hand with.
• Be part of a team-oriented caregiving environment; help cover for other caregivers if needed to put out a meal or do simple household tasks.

Physical Requirements

You must have the physical capacity to

• remove and put on my compression stockings, help me shower, and do other personal care tasks. This requires balance, bending over, kneeling, strong grip strength, and manual dexterity.
• assist with occasional garden care and adjusting my wheelchair.
• move objects: buckets of water, help with a stuck wheelchair, etc.
• work 6+ hour shifts as needed, with short breaks.
• Focus 1-2 hours at a time on a lengthier specific task, including computer work, detail-oriented desk-related tasks, and phone calls.

Additional Notes

• I am looking for someone who can make a long-term commitment to this job, ideally two years or longer. During that time we take the time to build a working relationship and you get to know my medical history and my providers.
• I am immunocompromised and you will need to wear a mask while in the house please.
• You should be vaccinated against Covid and receive booster shots. We can discuss options if you are not able to do so for medical reasons.
• This is a non-smoking, low-fragrance home with an indoor cat; please consider any allergies or sensitivities.
• You need to live within driving distance of Brattleboro, VT, and have a reliable vehicle with good snow tires in the winter.
• An optional live-in arrangement may be available, in a newly finished basement studio apartment with its own private entrance. Please ask if you'd like more information, and we'll send you the details separately.
• Three professional references will be required; we will ask for these after the first interview.
• Everyone whom I hire must have a successful background check required by the State of VT.

Compensation

Starting pay is $30-$45 per hour (based on experience), with raises over time, and the possibility of bonuses.

A portion of the pay comes through Vermont Medicaid, and I pay the rest out-of-pocket because I want to pay my employees fairly as much as I can within my means.

Health insurance benefits are not provided; you need to have your own health insurance.

TO APPLY

Please respond with your resume and answers to the following questions.

Important

Please answer in your own words without using Al or automated writing and polishing tools, including those in Gmail. (spellcheck is OK, of course.) Getting to know how you naturally communicate and express yourself is an important part of getting to know you as a person. We're not looking for perfect or polished writing! This is expected for all communication throughout the interview process. Brief answers are OK, as long as they are complete!

1. What interests you most about this particular position? Which aspects of the job sound especially appealing or exciting to you?

2. Tell us about your previous caregiving experience. What kind of care have you personally provided, and what were your main responsibilities? Do you have any experience caregiving for someone who is making their own medical and life decisions?

3. This position also involves complex medical administrative work, such as detailed written documentation, synthesizing recommendations from multiple providers, and organizing a detailed calendar of providers and PCAs. Tell us a little about your experience with these or similar responsibilities, ideally including an example of something you’ve coordinated or managed independently.

4. Technology use is a very important part of this job, primarily using MacBooks, iPads, and your own smartphone. What is your level of familiarity with Google Docs and Sheets, Safari, and productivity apps such as Evernote and Todoist? If you’re not familiar with some of these, are you a quick learner with technology?

5. How comfortable are you at expressing yourself clearly through texting and written messages?

6. I'm looking for someone who wants to build a long-term working relationship with one person. How do you see this position fitting into your life and work plans over the next couple of years?

7. What is your schedule and availability? Please tell us which of the schedule options you would be interested in and available for. If you are interested in finding out more about the live-in option, let us know.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to speaking with you!

Pay: $30.00 - $45.00 per hour

Benefits

* Paid orientation

Work Location: In person