Honest answers to the questions families actually ask.

We offer non-medical home care including personal care (bathing, grooming, toileting, mobility), companionship, light housekeeping, meal prep, medication reminders, transportation, memory support for dementia and Alzheimer's, recovery care after hospital stays, live-in and 24-hour care, respite for family caregivers, and care management. Every plan is customized.

We serve families across Lake, Cook, DuPage, and Kendall counties in Illinois. If you're close to any of those areas and unsure whether we can help, just call — we'll tell you honestly.

Lakeshore was founded on personal caregiving experience from the receiving end — two and a half decades of it. That shapes how we hire, train, and match caregivers. We're small, owner-operated, and we match on personality and values, not just skills. The match matters more than the schedule.

Yes. Every Lakeshore caregiver is thoroughly background-checked, bonded, insured, and trained in dementia care, senior care, and mobility assistance. They're supervised by our care team and held to high standards of consistency and professionalism.

Yes. We use a collaborative approach — we recommend caregivers based on your needs and preferences, and you help make the final decision. And if a match isn't working, we adjust it. No pressure, no penalties.

Hourly care ranges from $40–$45 per hour with a 6-hour minimum shift. Live-in care ranges from $500–$550 per day. Your exact rate depends on care level, schedule, and specific needs. We'll provide a personalized quote after a free consultation — no obligation.

We accept private pay (check or ACH) and long-term care insurance. We'll help you verify your long-term care benefits and handle the paperwork side as much as we can.

Call (847) 861-5915 or email Care@lakeshorehh.com to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. We'll learn about your situation, answer your questions, and — if it makes sense — build a care plan together.

Yes. We provide dedicated private duty caregivers for residents in assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing facilities who need more consistent one-on-one attention than facility staff can offer. It's a popular option for families who want a familiar face each day.

Yes. Refer a new client and choose a $500 cash bonus or 15% off their first 100 hours (up to $675 value). Refer a caregiver who joins our team and you'll receive $300 after they complete 100 hours. Private-pay services only — ask for full terms.

Tell us. No hard feelings, no penalties, no questions. Fit matters more to us than continuity, and we adjust fast. We'd rather rematch early than have a family quietly unhappy. If something isn't clicking, a quick call is all it takes to start the conversation.

Most care plans begin within a few days to a week of the first consultation — long enough to build a good plan and match you with a caregiver who genuinely fits. We can move faster when circumstances require it, but we're believers that the best care decisions happen before they're urgent. Starting the conversation early gives everyone the time to choose well rather than rush under pressure.

They will. Most families start lighter than they end up needing — a few mornings a week that slowly grows into daily help, then overnights, then live-in. We build that progression into our care plans from day one. No contracts, no penalties for scaling up or down. Just a conversation, and we adjust.

Our caregivers are trained specifically for dementia care, including the harder moments. Sundowning (the evening agitation common with dementia), wandering, repetition, resistance to bathing, and the emotional weight of watching a loved one change — all of this is familiar territory for us. We pair clients with caregivers who are calm, patient, and experienced in the specific patterns that come with memory loss.

Our caregivers are trained to respond immediately, assess without moving the person, call 911 if needed, and notify you and our care team. We document the incident fully, review what led up to it, and adjust the care plan to reduce the risk of it happening again. We carry full liability insurance and every caregiver is bonded.

Yes — and honestly, it's often the smartest way to start. A short daily shift (two to three mornings a week, or a few evenings) lets everyone get comfortable with the caregiver and the routine before committing to more hours. Note: our minimum shift is 6 hours because shorter shifts are hard to staff consistently. Start at six, grow from there.

Overnights are part of our live-in rate when continuous care is needed. Separate overnight-only shifts are available and priced by the shift — call us for a quote. Holiday rates apply on major holidays and are discussed upfront during your consultation so there are no surprises on the bill.

Home care isn't paid by the task — it's paid for presence. Some hours are hands-on: bathing, meals, mobility help, medications, conversation. Other hours are quieter — the caregiver is tidying, reading nearby, or simply present. That quiet presence is the whole point. The value of a caregiver isn't measured by how busy they look; it's measured by what doesn't happen because they're there. The fall that doesn't become a hospitalization. The confusion that doesn't become a panic. The long afternoon that doesn't feel lonely. Great home care is often uneventful — and that's success, not idle time. We've had families tell us they felt guilty paying for hours where "nothing happened," and we always tell them the same thing: nothing happened because we were there.