How the assessment decides
Three plain answers. The assessment looks at six areas of daily life, plus five events serious enough to count on their own. Your result names the area or the event that decided it, and it arrives before anyone asks for your contact details.
The Parents Home Care assessment gives one of three results. Living alone looks workable right now means nothing you told us pointed to a problem today. Living alone can work with more support means one or more areas need attention, and the result names the kind of support each area calls for. It is time to look at more support than home alone can give means either one event the assessment treats as serious on its own, or difficulty in four or more areas at once, and the first step is a conversation with your parent's doctor. The result is never a number and never a guarantee. The rules behind it are published in full on the how the assessment decides page.
What it asks about
Six parts of living at home, in plain questions about things you have seen.
- Everyday basics. Bathing, dressing, getting up and moving, using the toilet.
- Running the household. Meals, bills, the state of the home, getting places.
- Falls and steadiness. Falls, getting up or calling afterward, unsteadiness, hazards at home.
- Memory and judgment. Change from last year, appliances left on, getting lost, repeated questions, scams.
- Health and medicines. Medicine routines, emergency or hospital visits, daily medical tasks.
- Who’s around. Regular contact, someone nearby, a way to call, help already in place, pulling away from people.
A few last questions ask what brought you here, how quickly things are changing, and how stretched you feel.
Nothing asks you to label your parent, and “I don’t know” is always an answer. The same ground is covered in signs a parent may need more support.
What it cannot do
This is not a diagnosis and not medical advice. It has not been tested as a clinical instrument.
It cannot examine your parent, review her medicines, or know what caused a change. It knows only what you tell it. The picture can be incomplete, and the result says so when it is.
It cannot replace an in-person assessment by a doctor, nurse, occupational therapist, social worker, or geriatric care manager. It organizes what you report and applies published care-planning rules. Use the result to decide what to look into and what to discuss with your parent and her doctor.
Questions families ask
How does an area get flagged?
One answer showing a clear concern flags the area. So do two answers showing a smaller concern. Help already at home is context for one serious-event rule, and does not flag “Who’s around” on its own.
What if I don’t know the answer?
“I don’t know” is always an answer. An area is marked uncertain once at least half of its counted questions are unknown. Memory and judgment has five questions, so three unknown answers make it uncertain.
Why can one answer decide the result?
Five events can cause serious harm before a pattern is clear.
- Getting lost in a familiar place, or leaving home and not finding the way back.
- More than one forgotten appliance, or any smoke, burn, or fire.
- Two hands-on everyday needs when no daily help is there.
- A serious or repeated fall with no way to get up or call.
- Medicines often missed or confused while daily medical care is hard to manage.
The rule does not say what caused the event, only that it deserves a wider care conversation now, starting with her doctor. If one of these is why you are here, read when a parent gets lost, when a parent leaves the stove on, what to do after a fall, or a missed or doubled dose.
What does provisional mean?
Something important could not be confirmed, or you have not seen your parent in person for more than three months. You still get a result from what you could answer, plus a checklist for your next visit.
What if I could only answer a few questions?
If fewer than 12 counted questions have a usable answer, the page says there is too little information to state an outcome. You can keep going or look at the partial picture.
What if my parent does not live alone?
The result carries a note. The serious-event rule about two hands-on needs treats someone living in the home as daily help.
Where do the questions come from?
Parents Home Care wrote them after reviewing common topics in everyday-function, fall-prevention, change-over-time, and social-connection assessments. The site does not reproduce a licensed instrument or use a clinical cutoff. CDC STEADI and the National Institute on Aging inform the fall questions, and national nonprofit wandering guidance informs the urgency around getting lost, without labeling the person taking the assessment.
Who reviewed it?
The item wording, thresholds, and action text were clinically reviewed by Sarah Fleischman, CCC-SLP. Rules version 1.0 was approved for release by Parents Home Care on September 3, 2026.
Can my mother take it herself?
Yes. Choose “Myself” on the first screen, and the wording changes to second person. Family members can also complete separate versions and compare what each person saw.
What do you do with my answers?
They produce and save your result. They are not sold or sent to a placement partner. If you choose an optional Zaidey handoff after the result, a separate screen can send only the result summary and named context fields, and individual answers and free text stay here. The details are in the consumer health data privacy policy.
How is this different from A Place for Mom’s quiz?
The result comes before any contact form, and the criteria are public. All three results are reachable, including staying home. Parents Home Care has two disclosed money paths. A placement introduction appears only after the most-support result, and only if the family opts in.
What should I read for the situation I am in?
Start with an unanswered phone, coming home from the hospital, a discontinued Alexa Together subscription, or checking in every day. For the bigger decision, read assisted living or staying home. From far away, caring from a distance helps you build a nearby response team, and when siblings disagree covers the argument that often follows.
Can I see the exact rules?
Yes. These are rules version 1.0, published September 3, 2026. The tables below are rendered from the same file the live assessment runs on.
Area criteria
| Area | Flag rule | Uncertain at |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday basics | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 2 unknown answers |
| Running the household | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 2 unknown answers |
| Falls and steadiness | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 2 unknown answers |
| Memory and judgment | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 3 unknown answers |
| Health and medicines | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 2 unknown answers |
| Who's around | One answer worth 2, or two answers worth 1 | 2 unknown answers |
Serious-event criteria
| Rule | Event | Exact condition |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | Got lost or left home without being able to find the way back | D3 is 1 or 2 |
| T2 | Repeated appliance incident or any smoke, burn, or fire | D2 is 2 |
| T3 | Two or more hands-on everyday needs without daily help | At least two A items are 2 and F4 is 1 or 2 |
| T4 | A serious or repeated fall followed by no way to get up or call | C1 is 2 and C2 is 2 |
| T5 | Medicines often missed or confused while daily care is hard to manage | E1 is 2 and E3 is 2 |
Outcome criteria
| Result | Exact condition |
|---|---|
| It is time to look at more support than home alone can give | Any hard trigger is true, or at least 4 domains are flagged. |
| Living alone can work with more support | No hard trigger is true and 1 to 3 domains are flagged, or no domain is flagged and G2 is 2. |
| Living alone looks workable right now | No hard trigger is true, no domain is flagged, and G2 is 0 or 1. |
When you are ready
It takes about five minutes. Free, no sign-up, and the answer comes before any form.