Live-in Companion / Health Aide
My wife and I are planning to move back to Colombia, but we will need to take my 89-year-old mother along with us.
I'm wondering about how much to pay someone to live with my mother and look after her. It would not have to be an actual nurse, but someone to be with her all day, bathe her, take her out, maybe some light housework, etc.
There are a lot of businesses in Colombia who provide precisely the services you are looking for.
The cost will be minimal depending on where you settle (compared to the cost in more developed countries) - more in places like Bogotá and MedellÃn, less in smaller cities. But there are more companies that offer these services in larger cities.
I suggest you first contact some of the companies below (the first two are for Santa Marta) and see what the market is, even though they may include nurse services. That should guide you as to what you will have to pay, which will be at least the minimum wage either hourly or monthly.  Although you could hire almost anyone I would suggest you stick with established companies just so you have better peace of mind. If you want someone who will be live-in 24/7, expect to pay more.
You can do searches using terms like
colombia cuidado de ancianos
colombia cuidado de adultos mayores
colombia cuidado tercera edad
You can include the city of interest in the search. You can include "a domicilio" to look for those who specifically say they'll provide service in the home, but that will limit the results.
This is just a guess but I would expect to pay anything from 1.5 to 2 times the minimum wage, depending on the extent of services required and hours per month. This page shows the minimum wage for 2020 for monthly, daily, hourly etc. Note that if you hire someone on your own, you are liable not only for at least the minimum wage but also a transport allowance, ³¦±ð²õ²¹²Ô³Ùò¹²õ and aguinaldo, and probably several other payment required by law. So if you contract with a company you will be spared the complexity of being an employer under the law, but you will pay more - I think this route is definitely preferable rather than being classified as an employer yourself.
This site shows you the total cost of an employee in Colombia, where you input the monthly salary and the risk level. For an employee being paid 1 million COP per month at risk level 1 (minimum risk), the total cost is about 1.65 million COP per month for everything.
Fabulous post, Brother Archer.
---
What is a level of risk -- riesgo -- in this context .. and how does one assess such?
cccmedia
OsageArcher wrote:Note that if you hire someone on your own, you are liable not only for at least the minimum wage but also a transport allowance, ³¦±ð²õ²¹²Ô³Ùò¹²õ and aguinaldo, and probably several other payments required by law. So if you contract with a company you will be spared the complexity of being an employer under the law, but you will pay more - I think this route is definitely preferable rather than being classified as an employer yourself.
I had to look these up...
³¦±ð²õ²¹²Ô³Ùò¹Â   = severance pay
aguinaldo  = Christmas bonus or tip
Source... Â (Spanish to English)
Risk table and % additional payment required depending on the job risk level:
TABLA DE CLASES DE RIESGO Y COTIZACIÓN
CLASE I   Riesgo mÃnimo     0.522%
CLASE II   Riesgo bajo        1.044%
CLASE III  Riesgo medio      2.436%
CLASE IV  Riesgo alto        4.350%
CLASE V   Riesgo máximo    6.960%
This is a brief explanation of the system Administradora de Riesgos Laborales (ARL) whereby professions and jobs are assigned a risk level, each level I - V requiring a larger % paid. The money goes into paying for worker compensation should one be injured or incapacitated on the job.
Somewhere there is a list of jobs and the risk level assigned to each - I haven't been able to locate that yet. But household work such as the poster described is in the lowest risk level I, with higher risk levels for jobs in construction, manufacturing, heavy equipment operation, mining etc. areas.
I'm working as a home health aide, I always wanted to help and support people. The salary varies between $20K and $26K a year, it depends on your experience and certification, you can check it here . I have a lot of certifications and hands-on experience so my salary is about $24K a year. My tasks include helping with meals, showering patients, distributing medications, and keep patients company. So if you need someone who would take care of your mom at home and not putting her in a hospital, then you can hire a home health aide. I think this is the best choice.
The salary information quoted above is from a U.S.-based home health aide. It probably bears little resemblance to the much lesser amount the OP would pay for her mother's potential care in small-town Colombia.
cccmedia
What class care would hanging a pain relieving IV be.
-@joebatesjr
Given that the highest risk class Clase V entails less than 7% more cost, is that going to be a deal breaker?
It would require a nurse to do the work for an IV, you would not want just anyone off the street to do that kind of work.
I would suggest getting in touch with a company like this one in Bogotá and asking them:
You can do an internet search for something like
colombia servicios enfermeras
...and explore the links that search brings up, and contact them for more information.
I know a guy who hired a private nurse in Colombia for his mom same age ..she passed away.
He is not exactly reach..makes about $60 K a year max.
She then became his " girlfriend" ..
She 22 , he 64, a short , overweight Alabama Red Neck
Well it lasted a year or so..then the story gets bizarre...him buying an apartment in Medallo for her family...them locking him up and feeding him whiskey and perico....and trying to coerce him to sign.over his other apartment to her...him breaking away and sending nude pictures of her to her mom..and then she sends her real traqueto boyfriend after him brandishing a gun..and him escaping to Montana to seek protection from the local KKK branch because he thinks she has a contract on him in Colombia ( he has a defamatión claim against him in a Colombian court).
Finally the Montans KKK kicking him out because he likes dark skinned Colombian/ Latina women , so he is now in Ecuador with another girl 45 years younger.
There is a bit of BS here because of the source, but my feeling it is at least 80% true because it came from 2 independent sources.
@nico peligro I think part of why I am still single is that I am hyper-aware of these sort of things... so I am suspicious of such women. In fact, I am suspicious and generally untrusting. I verify EVERYTING and double-check people for consistency. This makes me a difficult target, I guess... so these sort of women just don't bother with me... I'm not an easy mark!
Yes I'm single and often lonely... but there's no shortage of "short-term dates" to be had in Colombia, and I'm having fun and living my life the way I want... without being cheated, robbed, scoped, or murdered. I guess I'm a weirdo... hot women don't trigger lust in me, they trigger suspicion and sometimes anger. I'm waaaaayyy too autistic,nerdy, cerebral, OCD, and I've come too far in life to let my "second head" lead the way, LOL!
If that story you posted is true... I kinda feel bad for the guy (KINDA) but let's be honest... he had a part to play in his misfortune. "If it looks too good to be true... IT PROBABLY IS!!" 🤣
Well hes doing okay now in Ecuador I guess..
He actually is an ex airline pilot..
And he recovered from terminal cancer 15 or 20 years ago
Lots of crazy gringos in Medallo..thats why I stay away from there.
My niece is a Registered Nurse with ten years experience. She is paid about $500.00 US per month working six days a week in a hospital in El Poblado. That should give you a standard as to where you need to set the bar for qualified care.
LPD
frpeter
Dont tell your wife the story I told or she will want to make sure the nurse is a 60 year old matronly type..or maybe , even better, a male nurse..
@nico peligro ..."recovered from terminal cancer." How does that work?
lpd
It works grammatically if one inserts the term
potentially, as in "recovered from potentially terminal cancer."
#signednoamchomsky
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