How to cut down routine family calls to a home care office

The short answer: Count your family calls for two weeks and sort them by reason. Then answer the most common questions before families have to ask: a first-day sheet, a short note after every visit in a place the family can read, one named contact on each side, and a regular summary. Keep urgent matters on the phone.

Why families keep calling

Most routine calls come from a gap in information, and research on home care describes that gap clearly. In a 2024 study in JMIR Formative Research, researchers at the University of Waterloo interviewed 9 family caregivers and 6 hired caregivers in Ontario. They found that the tools caregivers used to pass on information often gave a one-way channel with no feedback or confirmation, and that caregivers were unsure whether others on the team had received and understood what they shared.

Families are also rarely asked what they need. A 2020 study in JAMA Network Open looked at 1,916 family and unpaid caregivers of older adults in the United States. Most said health care workers listened to them, but nearly half (45.0%) said they were never asked whether they needed help managing care. When nobody asks, families fill the gap the only way they can, by picking up the phone.

Count the calls for two weeks

Before changing anything, find out what the calls are about. For two weeks, ask everyone who answers the office phone to keep a simple tally: the client, who called, and the reason in a few words. A shared spreadsheet or a sheet of paper by the phone both work.

At the end of the two weeks, group the reasons. Most agencies find that a handful of questions make up a large share of the calls. Those are the ones to answer in advance. Calls about decisions, complaints and changes in condition belong with a coordinator, so leave them out of this exercise.

• Did the caregiver arrive, and when?
• How did the visit go?
• Who is coming next, and at what time?
• Has anything changed since the last visit?
• Can a visit be moved, added or cancelled?
• What should the family bring to an appointment?

Answer the common questions on the first day

Give every new family a one-page sheet at intake. It should say how they will hear about visits, when they can expect each kind of update, who to contact for what, and which matters always come by phone. Write it in plain words and offer it in large print and as a document that works with a screen reader.

Go through the sheet with the family in person or on a call, and ask them to tell you back how they will hear about a visit and who they would call about a fall. If their answer is off, explain it again. A family that understands the routine on day one makes far fewer checking-in calls in the weeks after.

Name one contact on each side

When several relatives call the office separately, coordinators repeat the same update and the family ends up with different versions of it. Ask the client which family member should be the main contact for the office, and record that name in the care plan. That person passes news to the rest of the family, or better, everyone the client chooses reads the same notes directly.

Do the same on your side. Give each family the name of one coordinator and one backup. Families call less when they know exactly who will answer, and the coordinator who knows the client can resolve a question in one call instead of three.

Put visit notes where the family can read them

The most common questions are about what happened at a visit, and a short note answers them. Ask caregivers to write two or three plain sentences before they leave the home: what was done, anything different from usual, and anything the family should know. Put that note in a place the family can open on a phone at the end of the day.

The Waterloo study pointed to the value of confirming that others have seen and understood an update. Choose a way of sharing notes that lets a family member reply or ask a question in writing, so a simple follow-up does not turn into a phone call. The visit schedule belongs in the same place, so the family can check who is coming next without calling.

Ask families what they need, and write it down

In a 2023 study in The Gerontologist, researchers interviewed 27 family caregivers of home health patients living with dementia. The caregivers described never being asked directly about their needs, and information not being passed along within the home health team. The authors proposed that the team ask caregivers about their needs, offer the resources available, learn the patient's routine, and record that information where the whole team can see it.

Home care agencies can borrow that approach. At intake and at each care plan review, ask the family what they want to hear about and how often, and record the answer in the client's file. A family that has been asked, and sees the answer reflected in the updates they get, has fewer reasons to call.

How Embrace helps

Embrace gives each client one shared record that the client and the family members they invite can open on an iPhone or on the web. Agency staff add visit notes, appointments and medications to that record, and family members can add notes of their own, so routine questions are answered in writing. Each person signs in with their own account, and the client decides who is invited.

Common questions

Will families stop calling altogether?

No, and they should not. The aim is to remove the routine status calls so that the calls that remain are about decisions, concerns and changes, which are the ones a coordinator needs to hear.

What should always stay a phone call?

Falls, incidents, a change in condition, a missed visit and anything your agency's policies require you to report by phone. Say so on the first-day sheet, so families know a written note never replaces that call.

How long does it take to see a difference?

Count the calls again for two weeks after the changes are in place, using the same tally. Comparing the two counts by reason shows which changes worked and which questions still need a better answer.

What if a family member prefers the phone?

Some people will, and that is fine. Record their preference, and agree on a set time for a short call each week, which is easier for a coordinator to plan than calls that come at any hour.

Does the client have a say in what the family sees?

Yes. Whenever the client is able to decide, ask them which relatives should receive updates and what should stay private, and review those choices when the care plan changes.