Domestic helper, visiting caregiver or home nursing: what should your family compare?

By APEX Maids Agency Pte. Ltd. · MOM EA Licence 25C3180 · UEN 202547196H. Based in Jurong West and serving households across Singapore. Our website is apexmaids.sg and our phone is 8405 6661.

Compare the arrangement before comparing candidates

• Live-in domestic helper. You employ the helper and take on salary, accommodation, rest, insurance and other employer responsibilities. Define the household duties and support needed, then verify relevant experience individually. Read the elderly-care placement page.
• Visiting personal care. AIC’s Enhanced Home Personal Care (HPC+) describes trained staff helping at home with personal care, routine support and some household tasks. Its listed scope also includes some advanced care tasks, so a simple “caregiver versus clinical work” division is misleading. Confirm the tasks and session length with the provider.
• Visiting home nursing. AIC’s home nursing page describes support for homebound people with nursing needs, including medication management, wound care, care coordination and caregiver training. Ask the care team what is needed and the provider what each visit covers.

AIC describes assessment and referral routes through a hospital or polyclinic, with application help at AIC Link. It is not the only route to every private care service. Check the actual provider’s eligibility, contract and access process.

Five decisions to put side by side

1. Tasks and evidence. List what must be done, how often and with what assistance. Ask the care team what training or supervision is needed. Check a candidate’s actual duties and training records; neither “domestic helper” nor “caregiver” establishes a qualification by itself.
2. Time and rest. A live-in arrangement is not continuous availability. Agree a realistic workload, adequate rest and the required rest days. For visits, check session times and what happens between them. Plan separately for nights and emergencies.
3. Who takes responsibility. For a helper, understand your obligations as employer. For a service, ask who coordinates care, handles absence and checks staff suitability. Put family responsibilities in the plan too.
4. The complete budget. Compare the helper’s salary, levy, insurance and placement costs with the provider’s written quote, frequency, exclusions and cancellation terms. AIC’s pages explain means-tested subsidy eligibility; do not assume you qualify or that every private service is subsidised.
5. Backup. Decide who covers rest days, leave, late visits and a change in needs. One person should not be expected to cover household work and uninterrupted care.

Can the arrangements be combined?

A family can plan daily household support alongside scheduled care visits where that suits the assessed needs. For example, the family might allocate meals and housework to a helper while a provider supplies agreed care visits. This is a planning example, not a claim about Apex placements or a recommendation for a particular patient.

Agree who does each task, who gives instructions and who to contact when needs change. Do not assign a procedure simply because a candidate says she has done it before. The training evidence checklist and post-discharge household planning guide help organise questions for the care team and candidate.

Prepare a short family brief

• Which ordinary daily tasks and household duties need support?
• What language does your family member use, and how will you check communication?
• What skills, equipment or supervision has the care team said are necessary?
• Who is available for rest days, nights and unexpected changes?
• Which costs and responsibilities belong to the employer, provider and family?

Use the private household brief tool for general interview questions. Keep diagnoses, identity documents and medical records out of that initial brief. Apex’s published offer is domestic-helper placement; this page does not promise nursing services, a care qualification or a suitable candidate in stock.