Hired Power describes its sober companions as Personal Recovery Assistants, or PRAs. The role focuses on practical support around everyday life and transitions, rather than providing a residential treatment setting. A useful enquiry should identify the activities, hours and circumstances in which the individual wants assistance.
This profile explains the published service model and how to assess a proposed assignment. It does not independently verify each staff member’s credentials, clinical outcomes or current availability. Request the assigned person’s details, a written scope and a clear explanation of supervision before committing.
What Hired Power publicly describes
The sober-companion page describes support in everyday settings, including home, community and travel. Its wider services directory includes intervention, transport, case management, monitoring and coaching-related support.
These services can address different points in a care pathway. An individual returning home may need a short companion assignment, while a family still deciding on care may need another type of consultation. Do not assume that a single enquiry purchases the whole range.
Ask the provider to name the service that fits your brief and explain the alternatives. The title Personal Recovery Assistant should be translated into practical tasks, hours and boundaries for the actual person and setting.
Define the practical purpose of companionship
Begin with a list of situations in which support would be useful: attending appointments, organizing a daily routine, traveling or settling into life after treatment. Separate those tasks from clinical decisions and from what relatives would like someone to monitor.
Set goals that can be reviewed. Completing a supported journey or establishing a workable appointment routine is more concrete than guaranteeing recovery. A companion cannot responsibly promise to prevent every setback or resolve every family concern.
Our sober-companion guide helps create a brief. Include the individual’s preferences, access needs and existing professional support so matching is based on more than availability.
Matching should include the individual
Hired Power’s matching-process description discusses an initial review and connection with an assigned PRA. Use that process to ask how the individual’s communication preferences, setting and practical needs are considered.
Request an introductory conversation before an extended assignment where possible. Ask the person receiving support whether the interaction feels useful and respectful. A companion may be experienced yet still be an unsuitable match for a particular household or daily routine.
Clarify how a mismatch is reviewed. Who receives the concern, what replacement options exist and what happens during the transition? A transparent change process is more useful than a promise that every first match will be perfect.
Hourly, daily, live-in and remote formats
The provider describes different formats for practical support. Ask which is being proposed and what each billed unit means. Hourly attendance, a daily assignment and a live-in arrangement are not simply different quantities of the same service.
For a live-in assignment, clarify active hours, rest, overnight expectations, days off and backup. One person living in the home does not automatically provide uninterrupted clinical coverage. If continuous professional observation is needed, qualified assessment should determine the appropriate service.
For remote support, ask what contact is included and what is not possible without physical presence. A scheduled video conversation or message check-in should not be described as equivalent to a companion attending an appointment or journey.
Qualifications and supervision
Ask about the assigned PRA’s training, relevant experience and any clinical qualifications claimed. Verify regulated registrations where clinical work forms part of the assignment. Lived experience, a training certificate and a clinical license answer different questions.
Clarify the supervision structure. Who advises the companion when a concern exceeds the role, and how quickly is appropriate advice available? A general reference to clinical oversight needs a named process rather than an assumption that a clinician is continuously present.
Ask what the companion is not authorized to do. Medication decisions, diagnosis, psychotherapy and emergency medical management should not be inferred from a supportive title. Clear limits protect the individual and make it easier to involve the right professional when needed.
Daily support without unnecessary control
An illustrative assignment might include planning the day, accompanying someone to an agreed appointment and reviewing practical arrangements for tomorrow. This is an organizational example, not a description of every Hired Power assignment or a prescribed treatment routine.
Ask how the person participates in setting activities and how independent time is handled. More attendance is not automatically more useful. The arrangement should support the individual’s own goals and clinical plan rather than simply reassure a worried payer.
Review whether household, work and social expectations are realistic. A companion should not silently become responsible for childcare, domestic work, security or resolving relationship conflict. Any additional role needs its own scope and suitability discussion.
Companionship alongside clinical treatment
Identify the clinician responsible for assessment and treatment decisions. Ask how the PRA communicates with that person when appropriate and authorized, and how practical observations are shared without creating competing advice.
A companion may help with agreed reminders or logistics, but questions about symptoms, medication or treatment changes belong with qualified clinicians. Do not assume that an existing residential discharge plan removes the need for local follow-up.
Our continuing-care guide explains how to connect companion support with confirmed appointments and handovers. A person should not leave treatment with extensive practical attendance but no clear clinical contact.
Transport and travel assignments
Hired Power lists transport among its services. For a journey, ask about the complete route, assigned traveler, clinical advice on suitability, delays and the receiving handover. A journey to treatment is different from companionship throughout a longer trip.
Confirm whether the support is nonclinical or includes an appropriately qualified medical professional. The presence of a companion does not establish fitness to travel, manage withdrawal or replace emergency assessment.
Use the supported-travel guide to identify costs and responsibilities. The person should understand and agree to the destination and purpose, and the receiving service should confirm arrangements before departure.
Case management and monitoring need separate definitions
The wider service directory includes coordination and monitoring. Ask whether these are part of the proposed package, optional additions or separate services. A companion occasionally reporting an update is not necessarily providing full case management.
For coordination, identify who tracks referrals, appointments and records. For monitoring, clarify what is recorded, the purpose, the recipients and the appropriate basis for sharing. Do not let a broad support contract conceal a reporting arrangement the individual does not understand.
Our case-management guide helps map those responsibilities. Keep clinical decisions, practical support and financial administration distinguishable even when one organization provides several components.
Privacy, family updates and professional boundaries
Agree what the family or payer receives. Hours delivered, expenses and completed practical tasks may be relevant; private conversations and clinical detail require a different process. Payment should not automatically determine access to information.
Ask how notes are stored and how concerns are escalated. A companion should not be used as an undisclosed messenger between the individual, relatives and employer. Clear expectations reduce the likelihood of conflicting requests.
Discuss gifts, personal lending, outside business relationships and social-media contact. Professional boundaries make it easier to reduce or end the assignment without creating a personal dependency or an obligation to continue paying.
Cost questions before booking
This profile does not state a universal Hired Power rate. Request a quote for the exact format, location and duration. Ask whether supervision, replacement cover, travel, accommodation and expenses are included.
Clarify minimum periods, cancellations, early termination and extensions. Find out what happens if the assigned person becomes unavailable or the individual’s clinical needs change. A price without those conditions is difficult to compare.
Our companion-cost guide includes a published example from another provider and explains why advertised rates are not interchangeable. Use it to structure your questions, not to infer Hired Power’s pricing.
Plan a review and a gradual ending where appropriate
Set review points before the assignment starts. Ask whether the original tasks are being completed, whether the individual finds the support useful and what can be managed with less attendance. A reduction should be a normal option, not an awkward request.
A step-down arrangement might move from longer attendance to selected activities or another appropriate service. The pattern should follow the person’s needs and professional advice rather than a fixed rule for everyone.
Before ending, confirm future contacts, appointments and outstanding practical tasks. The aim is a clear handover and a sustainable support network, not simply a final invoice.
Questions about geographic coverage
Ask where the assigned staff are actually based and whether travel is required. A broad network description does not establish immediate local availability in every city or country. Confirm the actual service location, time zone and backup arrangements.
Where regulated clinical work is included, ask the professional to confirm authorization for the person’s physical location. Nonclinical companionship and clinical care have different requirements, and the agreement should not blur them.
For immediate danger, use local emergency services. A commercial provider’s contact line or a companion’s presence is not automatically an emergency response network.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Personal Recovery Assistant?
It is Hired Power’s term for its companion role. Ask what tasks, hours, qualifications and supervision apply to the individual assignment rather than infer a standardized clinical service from the name.
Can the service replace therapy?
Companionship should not be presented as a replacement for needed clinical care. It may support practical participation in an agreed plan, with clinical decisions remaining with the relevant professionals.
How should a family start an enquiry?
Use the official website and describe the task, location, dates and existing care. Ask about matching and scope before sending extensive records or paying for a long assignment.
What should be in the final agreement?
The assigned person, activities, hours, duration, supervision, privacy, expenses, replacement process, cancellation terms and ending handover should all be clear before work begins.