Self-Assessment

Self-Assessment means evaluating yourself. What do you do daily? What do you want to do? What kind of help do you need to live as independently as possible? The self-assessment helps you to decide what you need. The self-assessment helps you to look at major areas of your life

to determine what you can do for yourself
to decide what you need help with
when, where and how much help do you need?

If you already have given thought to your goals and preferences you should be ready to assess what help you need.

Be sure to consider all of your needs. Consider what you would like to do but don't do because it's a struggle to do by yourself, or what you don't do because you don't like to constantly ask family or friends to help you to do them. Ask yourself some questions.

What do I want to do with my life? Dream a little - make a wish list.
What do I have difficulty doing?
What kind of help will enable me to do these things?

Remember that your lifestyle, abilities, health and stamina do change. You may be able to do an activity by yourself today. But things can change. At another time you might need help to do the same activity. So your need for physical assistance from others often will change with some days requiring more help, and some less.

Most of your needs for help will occur on a daily basis, some will recur weekly, others may need to be done monthly, or once or twice a year. Be sure your Task Checklist is as complete as possible.

There is a tool to help you called the Task Checklist. The Task Checklist lets you do the following:

lets you select the tasks you need done
lets you decide the days and times you want them done
provides space for you to enter your preferences or directions on how you want a task done.

Warning Make choices carefully. Don't be tempted to let your PA do everything. If you stop doing things you can do, you are giving up some of your independence. For example, even if you need assistance bathing and dressing, you may be able to comb your own hair and brush your teeth. On the other hand, you may be able to do some tasks yourself such as dressing. But the time it would take might tire you too much or take up too much of your day, limiting your time for activities.

Once you have prepared your Task Checklist you can decide the kind of help you need for personal care, housekeeping, and other activities. You can decide whether or not you need more than one PA. Some of these decisions will be based on how much funding you have. You might give thought to whether or not your PA can have a disability. Would you prefer a male or female PA?

Self Assessment adapted from Home Health Aides: How to Manage the People Who Help You, (p. 158), by A.H. DeGraff, c. 1988, Saratoga Access Publications, Fort Collins, Colorado, http://www.saratoga-publications.com. Reprinted with permission.

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