Hospice Support Care in Derby, CT
Non-medical hospice support — homemaker-companion services that complement hospice nursing during a parent's final months at home.
No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
It might have been a call from the hospice nurse on a Tuesday afternoon, standing in the parking lot off Olivia Street, asking if someone could be there through the night because your family couldn’t arrive until morning. You said yes without knowing exactly what you were saying yes to. That moment, when the medical team is doing their part and you’re trying to hold everything else together, is exactly where we step in. We work alongside hospice nurses so your family can be present without carrying every hour of caregiving alone.
Hospice Support Care means having someone present in the home whose entire focus is comfort, calm, and keeping your family informed. Our aides help with personal hygiene, repositioning, light meals, and making sure the person in their care is never uncomfortable or alone. They follow the hospice plan of care already in place and work directly with the hospice nurses managing the medical side, so nothing falls through the gaps.
For families in Derby, the need often becomes clear after a discharge from Griffin Hospital, when the hospice team sets up services but the in-home hours don’t cover everything. Our aides fill those hours. They sit with someone when they’re restless at 3 a.m., they keep the space tidy and calm, they manage small but important tasks like medication reminders, oral care, and gentle movement. They also make it possible for family members to sleep, eat, and step away without guilt.
Across Derby’s neighborhoods, we see families navigating a situation where the emotional weight and the logistical demands land at the same time. What they need isn’t more paperwork; it’s someone reliable at the door who knows what to do. Because Private Duty Aides was founded by a working nurse, our approach to this service is grounded in what actually happens in the home during end-of-life care, not just what looks good on paper.
Nurse-founded
Our founder worked as a nurse and saw firsthand what families facing end-of-life care at home actually needed. That background shapes every part of how we train aides and set up care for this service specifically.
Built around this service
Our aides who take Hospice Support Care cases are briefed on the hospice plan, know how to work alongside the medical team, and have real experience with the pace and emotion of this kind of care.
We stay reachable
When something shifts, and it often does, you need to reach someone immediately. We don’t send you to a voicemail queue. You call, we answer, and we figure it out together.
We know Derby and New Haven County
We know the discharge process at Griffin Hospital, the hospice teams that operate in this area, and the practical realities Derby families face. We’re not learning your community from a map.
How it works
You tell us what’s happening. No intake forms, no sales process. We listen, ask the right questions, and tell you honestly what we can do and when.
For Hospice Support Care, the match matters more than most services. We consider temperament, experience with end-of-life care, and your family’s specific situation before we send anyone.
Often same day for families in Derby who are in an urgent situation. We don’t make you wait while things are moving fast at home.
You won’t be handed off to a scheduler you’ve never spoken to. When something changes, you call us and someone who knows your situation picks up.
Why families choose us
Every aide is trained and supervised through an RN’s lens — not just placed and forgotten.
Personality fit matters more than skill on paper. We match for temperament, pace, and patience.
No franchise rotation. You work with the people who run this agency — direct, accessible, accountable.
Most families are matched with a caregiver within 24 to 48 hours. When something shifts at home, we move quickly.
We build a daily structure around your parent’s rhythm — meals, walks, evenings — and protect it.
You hear from us, not just the aide. Updates on appetite, sleep, mood, mobility — the things that matter.
Every caregiver clears a multi-step screening — background check, reference checks, and an in-person interview with our RN founder — before they're ever placed in a home.
Why families trust us
Private Duty Aides is nurse-founded. Every caregiver clears a multi-step screening — a background check, reference checks, and an in-person interview with our RN founder — before they are ever placed in a home. You get the same consistent caregiver, matched by a nurse, not whoever happens to be available.
Common questions
On a typical day, a Hospice Support Care aide helps with personal hygiene, oral care, repositioning for comfort, light meals or snacks, and keeping the environment calm and clean. They sit with the person in their care, offer gentle companionship, and watch for any changes to report to the hospice nurse. They don't replace the medical team; they handle the hours and tasks that keep someone comfortable between nurse visits. For families, they also provide a steady, reassuring presence that makes it possible to be a family member rather than a full-time caregiver.
We can often have an aide in place the same day we receive a call, and almost always within 48 hours. Griffin Hospital discharges sometimes happen quickly, and we know families don't have days to wait once someone is home. When you call us, tell us the discharge date and what the hospice team has set up, and we'll work around that schedule to fill the gaps right away.
We are a private-pay agency, which means we don't bill Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance directly. Some long-term care insurance policies will reimburse for non-medical home care services, and it's worth checking your policy. The hospice benefit through Medicare does cover the hospice team's visits, but it typically doesn't cover the additional aide hours that families need. That's the gap we fill.
A home health aide typically works under a medical plan of care and handles skilled tasks as part of a Medicare-covered benefit. Hospice Support Care, as we provide it, is non-medical comfort care that works alongside the hospice team. Our aides focus on presence, personal comfort, companionship, and keeping the household running during an incredibly hard time. They don't administer medications or perform clinical procedures, but they handle everything else that makes a difference hour to hour.
Yes, and for this service in particular we take the match seriously. Before we send anyone, we talk through your parent's background, what they respond well to, any preferences around gender or communication style, and what your family dynamic looks like. Some people want quiet; some want someone who will talk to them. We ask those questions because getting it right the first time matters more when time is short.
We keep you covered. If your regular aide is sick or unavailable, we contact you as early as possible and have someone we've already vetted ready to step in. We don't leave you to figure it out yourself. For Hospice Support Care cases, we treat continuity as a priority because a new face at a difficult moment matters to your family and to the person in their care.
All home care services in Derby
No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
Private Duty Aides — Derby, CT
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