Choosing care
Arranging care in Ghana while living abroad
Many people who arrange care in Ghana live in London, Hamburg, New York, Toronto or Dubai. Distance makes it harder, but not impossible, to set up care well and stay involved.
When a parent in Ghana starts to need help, family members abroad often feel torn: worried, far away, and dependent on whoever happens to be nearby. Arranging care from a distance takes some extra planning, but it also gives you a clear way to be involved, rather than relying on occasional reports.
Start with your parent's wishes
The most important person in this is your parent. Before arranging anything, find out what they want, and what worries them. Some parents welcome help; others feel embarrassed, or fear that "a carer" means losing their independence or their home.
- Talk about specific things that would make the day easier, rather than "care" in general.
- Involve the people they trust: siblings, a close friend, their pastor or imam, their doctor.
- Make it clear that they stay in charge of their own life and their own decisions.
Our guide to recognising when a loved one may need help includes ideas for starting this conversation.
Consent: who can arrange what
This part often confuses families, so it's worth being clear.
Anyone can enquire. You don't need any legal authority to ask a care provider about services, ask for a callback or find out what's possible. Our request form never asks you to prove you can act for your parent.
Care itself needs your parent's agreement. If your parent can make their own decisions, they decide whether to have care, who comes into their home and what happens there. A care provider will want to hear from them directly, usually during the assessment.
Updates need your parent's permission. Information about someone's health and care is private. Your parent decides which family members can receive updates, and what kind. This is recorded so that everyone knows who is authorised.
Legal authority matters later, and only in some situations. If your parent can no longer make certain decisions themselves, questions about who can decide for them, and how, become important. That's a conversation to have carefully, with the family and, where needed, with a lawyer. It is never a barrier to getting in touch or asking questions.
Time zones and staying in touch
- Pick your callback time in your own time zone. Our request form lets you choose your time zone and preferred part of the day, and we convert it to Ghana time. Ghana is on GMT all year, so the difference changes for families in places that use summer time.
- Agree how you'll get updates. Phone, WhatsApp or email, how often, and who in the family receives them. One named family contact keeps messages from getting lost between siblings.
- Plan regular video calls with your parent, at a time the caregiver can help set up if needed.
- Ask what happens outside your waking hours. If something happens during the night where you are, who is called first, and how will you hear?
Money, payments and receipts
Money is where misunderstandings can damage trust quickly. Set clear rules from the start.
- Agree a budget for shopping and errands, and how money reaches Ghana (for example a transfer to a trusted family member or an agreed float).
- Receipts for everything. Every purchase and bill payment should have a receipt you can see.
- Written authorisation. Any help with bills or errands should be agreed in writing: which bills, what limit, and who receives the receipts.
- No PINs, no passwords. No carer should ever ask for, or be given, your parent's bank PIN, mobile money PIN or passwords. If someone asks, treat it as a warning sign.
- Separate care fees from household spending, so it's clear what you are paying for.
Help with bill payments and errands can be part of a care plan, always with these safeguards.
What to prepare before you get in touch
You don't need all of this for a first call, but it helps to start gathering:
| Information | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Where your parent lives (region and town or area) | To check whether care can be provided there |
| What has changed recently, with rough dates | To understand the situation and what's urgent |
| Their main health conditions and their doctor's name | For the assessment (shared privately later, not on the web form) |
| Their current medicines, or photos of the labels | For a nurse to review at the assessment |
| Who lives with them or nearby | To plan who does what |
| Family members who should receive updates | So consent can be discussed with your parent |
| Your time zone and when you're free | To plan calls |
| Any upcoming trips home | An assessment can sometimes be arranged while you're in Ghana |
If you can't be there for the assessment
Many families abroad join the home care assessment by phone or video, with a relative in Ghana present in person. What matters most is that your parent is part of it, and that someone who knows their daily routine can answer questions.
After the assessment you receive the care plan and a quote to discuss as a family before anything starts.
Staying involved once care starts
- Keep the care plan to hand, so you know what has been agreed.
- Read updates and ask questions; you won't be a nuisance.
- Tell the team about family events, trips and changes you hear about from your parent.
- Plan reviews, especially after any hospital stay or change in health.
- When you visit, meet the caregiver and see how the routine works in practice.
Our page for families living abroad explains how we plan calls, updates and payments for families in your position.
This guide is general information, not medical advice for a particular person. Talk to the person's doctor about their health, treatment and medicines.