Nonmedical help at home, paid privately and scheduled around your parent’s life, from a 4-hour visit to around-the-clock care.
No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
The discharge planner has a clipboard and a kind voice. Your mom qualifies for home health, she says, so a nurse will come by twice a week and a therapist on Thursdays. You nod. Then you do the math on the drive home: that's maybe 4 hours of help out of 168, and your mom can't get in and out of the shower alone.
Private duty home care is how many Connecticut families cover the other 164. It's nonmedical help at home, paid for privately, scheduled around your parent's life instead of an insurer's rules. Below: what it includes, what an aide in Connecticut can and can't do, how schedules work (up to 24 hours a day), what it costs, and how to tell a good agency from a staffing service.
Private duty home care is nonmedical help at home that a family pays for directly, either out of pocket or with reimbursement from a long-term care insurance policy. Because no insurer is setting the terms, you decide how many hours, which days and what the caregiver focuses on.
That’s the whole definition. “Private duty” describes how the care is paid for and arranged, and it covers a wide range of schedules: a 4-hour visit three mornings a week, every night from 8pm to 8am, or care around the clock. The person who comes is usually called a private duty caregiver or private duty aide. Their work is the daily stuff that keeps a household running and a person safe and clean: bathing help, meals, laundry, a walk to the mailbox, company through a long afternoon.
Families usually find their way here after one of three things: a hospital stay, a dementia diagnosis that’s started to change the days, or a spouse who’s been doing everything and can’t anymore. Some start with 12 hours a week. Some start at 24/7 and step down. The flexibility is the point.
Most families meet “home health” first, so the two get tangled. They’re different services, licensed by different state agencies and paid for differently.
| Private duty home care | Medicare home health | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Nonmedical help with daily living | Skilled nursing and therapy |
| Who arranges it | You | A doctor orders it |
| Who provides it in CT | A homemaker-companion agency registered with the CT Department of Consumer Protection | A home health agency licensed by the CT Department of Public Health and certified by Medicare |
| Hours | Whatever you schedule, up to 24/7 | Part-time or intermittent visits |
| Who pays | You (some families seek reimbursement from long-term care insurance) | Medicare, if your parent qualifies |
Medicare’s own rules are clear about the limits. It covers home health when your parent is homebound and needs part-time or intermittent skilled care, ordered by a doctor and delivered by a Medicare-certified agency. Medicare doesn’t pay for 24-hour care at home, for homemaker services, or for personal care like bathing and dressing when that’s the only help someone needs (Medicare.gov).
Plenty of families use both at once. The home health nurse manages the wound and the medications; the private duty aide is there for the shower, the lunch and the 3am bathroom trip. If you’re sorting out which is which, our guide to home care vs home health care in Connecticut goes deeper, and what Medicare covers for home care in CT walks through eligibility.
Connecticut draws a firm line for nonmedical agencies, and it’s worth knowing before the first visit. The Department of Consumer Protection lets registered homemaker-companion agencies help with cooking, laundry, light cleaning, organizing, grocery shopping, personal hygiene, walks and companionship. It bars them from medical services, from administering medications or shots, and from nursing tasks like checking blood pressure or caring for wounds (CT DCP).
In practice, a private duty aide can:
A private duty aide won’t give medications or shots, care for wounds, take blood pressure, direct physical therapy or plan special diets. Those are medical tasks, and Connecticut reserves them for licensed home health agencies. Separately, our own caregivers don’t drive clients; that’s Private Duty Aides policy.
Private Duty Aides is registered with the Department of Consumer Protection as a homemaker-companion agency (registration HCA.0002689). Those lines exist for good reasons, and as a nurse I’d rather a family hear them up front. What a nurse-founded agency adds is knowing where the lines sit and coordinating across them. Connecticut requires agency staff to be trained as mandated reporters and to report safety or health concerns right away (CT DCP). In practice, our caregivers tell you and your parent’s medical team what they see (she skipped lunch, she seemed confused at 4pm) so the people licensed to act on it can. See personal care, companion care and dementia home care for what each looks like day to day.
Private duty care fits around a life, so schedules vary a lot. Most families land on one of four patterns.
A few hours, a few days a week. Mornings for showering and breakfast, or afternoons when a spouse needs a break. This is how many families start, and for some it’s enough for years. Our visits start at 4 hours.
Overnight. An aide from roughly 8pm to 8am for a parent who wanders, gets up to use the bathroom, or just isn’t safe alone after dark. Overnight care is often the first step after a fall at night.
24-hour care. Caregivers in shifts (usually two 12-hour shifts or three 8-hour shifts) so someone awake is always in the house. This is the right fit when your parent needs help several times a night, or after a hospital stay when the first weeks home are the shakiest. 24-hour home care is common, and it works well when it’s planned properly.
Live-in care. One caregiver lives in the home for several days at a stretch, with real time to sleep and take breaks. It suits a parent who needs steady help during the day but sleeps through most nights. We offer both live-in care and 24-hour shifts, and we’ll help you choose.
Nights decide most of it. If your dad is up three times a night and needs help each time, a live-in caregiver can’t sleep, and a shift schedule is the better fit. If nights are quiet, live-in usually costs less, because fewer hours are paid. Schedules also change. Many families go from 24-hour care after a hospital stay down to days only once recovery settles, and that’s a normal path.
Every family asks for the same caregiver every time. That’s the right thing to want, and it’s worth being honest about what an agency can promise.
People get sick. Kids get sick. Cars break down in February. Any agency that promises one person every shift, forever, is promising something it can’t control. What a good agency can do is make sure a change in caregiver never means a stranger walking in cold.
Here’s what that looks like when it works:
When one of our caregivers calls out, we send a replacement so the shift is still covered.
When you interview agencies, ask exactly this: what happens at 6am when the scheduled caregiver calls out sick? A good agency answers with a process: who gets called, by when, and who walks in the door. Our 12 questions to ask a Connecticut home care agency has the rest.
Private duty care in Connecticut is billed by the hour, and the rate depends mostly on how much hands-on help your parent needs. Our published ranges:
| Type of care | Hourly range |
|---|---|
| Companion care | $36-42 |
| Personal care | $40-50 |
| Specialized care (dementia, complex needs) | $50-70 |
| Fairfield County, typical | $42-58 |
For an outside benchmark, CareScout’s 2025 Cost of Care survey puts Connecticut’s median for homemaker services at $82,368 a year for 44 hours a week, about $36 an hour (CareScout, 2025).
What moves the number: personal care costs more than companionship, dementia care more than either, and nights, weekends and holidays can change the rate. Live-in care is usually priced differently from hourly shifts, so ask for a quote based on your parent’s actual schedule. Our cost of home care in Connecticut guide breaks it down by schedule and town.
Most families pay out of pocket, often from a parent’s savings or a mix of family contributions. Some families also hold a long-term care insurance policy.
A tax-qualified long-term care policy pays once a licensed health care practitioner certifies that your parent can’t do 2 of 6 daily activities (bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, continence) without substantial help for at least 90 days, or needs supervision because of severe cognitive impairment like dementia (Life Happens). Most policies also have an elimination period, a waiting stretch of paid care before benefits start.
Whether a particular policy covers a particular agency is a question only the insurer can answer, so call them before care starts and ask what they need. Insurers usually ask for paperwork such as a plan of care, timesheets and itemized invoices, and we provide those records on request. Some policies won’t reimburse a privately hired caregiver at all.
Private Duty Aides doesn’t accept Medicare, Medicaid or the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders (CHCPE). If your parent may qualify for CHCPE, we’ll tell you so and point you to participating agencies. How to pay for home care in Connecticut covers every option.
Some families hire a caregiver directly, through a friend’s recommendation or an online listing. It can cost less per hour, and you choose exactly who comes.
You also become the employer. That means payroll and taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, a background check you run yourself, and finding a replacement at 6am when your caregiver is sick (Family Caregiver Alliance). An agency carries those jobs. In Connecticut, a registered homemaker-companion agency must run a background check on every caregiver before hiring and carry at least $10,000 in bond or insurance coverage against theft (CT DCP). For families who live far away or work full time, that backup is usually what tips the decision.
Plenty of families run a parent’s care from a Manhattan office or a different time zone. Distance changes what you need from an agency. You need one person to call, written updates you can read on the train, and a clear plan for who does what if something happens at 2am.
Ask any agency how you’ll hear about each shift, who your point of contact is, and how fast they reach you when something’s off. Then ask to see a sample update. You’ll learn more from that page than from the sales call.
If you’re weighing private duty care for your parent, talk it through with us. Private Duty Aides was founded by a registered nurse with more than 10 years in nursing, including 8 years inside one of Connecticut’s leading hospital systems. We’ll ask about your parent’s days and nights and tell you honestly what schedule makes sense. Start the conversation.
Not sure which one you need?
Answer yes or no. You’ll see which service your answers point to, and why.
| Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Does your parent need a nurse or therapist for something specific, like a wound, injections, IV medicine or physical therapy? | Points to home health. Those are skilled tasks. In Connecticut, nonmedical agencies can’t do wound care, give medications or shots, or direct therapy. | Points to home care. Without a skilled need, home health usually doesn’t apply. Home care covers daily help. |
| Has a doctor ordered home health visits, or said your parent qualifies? | Points to home health. Medicare home health starts with a doctor’s order and is delivered by a Medicare-certified agency. | Points to home care. Home care needs no doctor’s order. Families arrange it directly. |
| Is leaving the house a major effort for your parent, needing another person’s help or a device? | Points to home health. That’s close to Medicare’s “homebound” rule, one of the requirements for home health. | Points to home care. If your parent gets out without much trouble, Medicare home health usually won’t apply. Home care has no homebound rule. |
| Does your parent need help with bathing, dressing, toileting or meals most days? | Points to home care. That’s everyday personal care. Medicare doesn’t pay for it when it’s the only help needed; home care is built for it. | No daily personal care needed right now. That’s worth rechecking as things change. |
| Is it unsafe for your parent to be alone for long stretches, or at night? | Points to home care. Medicare doesn’t pay for 24-hour care at home. Home care can cover nights, live-in or around-the-clock schedules. | Good. Short visits may be enough for now. |
| Do you need someone there for several hours at a time, rather than a short visit? | Points to home care. Home health is part-time or intermittent, usually short visits. Home care shifts run as long as you need. | Short visits fit both services, so this one doesn’t tip the balance. |
| Is the need tied to a recent hospital stay or a new condition expected to improve? | Points to home health. Short-term skilled care often follows a hospital stay. Many families add home care for the hours between visits. | Points to home care. Ongoing, long-term help with daily life is what home care is for. |
| Is the main need company, housekeeping, errands or medication reminders? | Points to home care. All of these are nonmedical tasks a home care aide can do in Connecticut (reminders only, never giving medications). | Then the medical and personal-care answers above matter more. |
This sorts services, not health needs. For medical questions, ask your parent’s doctor. Sources: Medicare.gov home health coverage, CT Department of Consumer Protection.
Why families choose us
Every aide is trained and supervised by a nurse-founded team, and we stay involved long after the first shift.
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, and 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. We match each caregiver personally and work to keep the same caregiver with your family whenever we can.
Common questions
No. Medicare covers part-time skilled home health for people who are homebound and have a doctor's order. It doesn't pay for 24-hour care, homemaker services, or personal care like bathing when that's the only help needed. Private duty home care is paid privately or through long-term care insurance.
A home health aide works for a DPH-licensed home health agency under a nurse's supervision, usually as part of a Medicare episode. A private duty caregiver works for a nonmedical agency (or directly for a family) and helps with daily living on a schedule the family sets.
No. In Connecticut, nonmedical homemaker-companion agencies can't administer medications or shots. A private duty aide can remind your parent when it's time, but your parent takes the medication themselves. If your parent needs someone to give medications, that's a job for a licensed home health agency.
Our visits start at 4 hours. Most families start with a few hours a day on the days that are hardest, then adjust. It's common to add nights or move to 24-hour care as needs change.
Yes. Around-the-clock private duty care is usually staffed in 12-hour or 8-hour shifts so a caregiver is always awake. When a parent sleeps through most nights, a live-in arrangement can work instead. See 24-hour home care in Connecticut.
It depends on the policy, and only the insurer can tell you. In general, tax-qualified policies start paying once a licensed practitioner certifies your parent needs substantial help with 2 of 6 daily activities or has a severe cognitive impairment, and after any elimination period. Call the insurer first; we can provide the records they request.
We serve families across Connecticut, with Fairfield County as our home base, including Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport, Wilton, Weston, Fairfield, Easton, Ridgefield and Bridgeport.
No sales pressure. We'll tell you straight if we're not a fit.
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