Elderly care helpers in the UAE

Day-to-day care, built around your parent's needs and routine. Depending on what you agree, that can include:

• Company and conversation, and keeping your parent engaged through the day
• Meals and drinks, prepared to suit their diet
• Help moving around the home, getting up and going out
• Personal care, such as help with washing and dressing
• Keeping to the day's routine, as you agree it with your parent and their doctors
• Light housework around your parent, such as their room and their laundry

It depends on the care your parent needs. For help at home day to day, a helper with experience of elderly care may be enough. If your parent needs medical care, ask their doctor what kind of help is right before you decide.

The difference matters for the rules too. As of September 2026, MOHRE (the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) lists personal healthcare providers as an occupation of their own in its employer guide, with different rules on paying salaries through the Wage Protection System (WPS). Paying a domestic worker through the Wage Protection System is mandatory for private trainers, private tutors, personal healthcare providers, personal PROs and private agricultural engineers, and optional for housemaids, nannies, cooks, drivers, housekeepers, gardeners, security guards and similar roles.

We found no official page that says which occupation covers a helper who mainly looks after an elderly parent. Since the occupation decides whether WPS is optional or mandatory, ask MOHRE on 600 590000 which one fits before you apply.

Patience and relevant experience first. Choose on skills and experience, not nationality. Look for:

• Experience with older people, ideally with needs like your parent's, such as limited mobility or memory loss.
• Patience and respect, so that your parent keeps their dignity and independence.
• Safe handling: helping someone up, into the shower or out of a car without a fall.
• Clear communication in a language your parent understands.
• Strong references from families whose parents she has cared for.

Ask her to describe the care she has given, in detail, and involve your parent in the conversation if you can:

• Who has she cared for, and what help did they need each day?
• How does she help someone who is unsteady on their feet?
• How does she handle a parent who is confused, low or refuses help?
• What would she do if your parent fell or became unwell?
• How would she keep the family updated?
• Is she comfortable with personal care, such as washing and dressing?

The whole job, in writing. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, the UAE's law on domestic workers, sets what her contract must cover. A domestic worker's contract must be on MOHRE's standard form and state, among other terms, the nature and place of the work and the worker's total pay and how it is paid. Agree the care she gives, any housework around your parent, and how she works with the family.

Plan the care around the rest the Decree-Law protects, especially if your parent needs help at night. A domestic worker is entitled to at least 12 hours of rest a day, of which at least 8 must be consecutive. A domestic worker is entitled to one paid day off a week. If your parent needs someone at every hour of the day and night, plan for more than one person.

By introducing them early and sharing what you know. Let your parent meet her before she starts if you can, and write down their routine, their likes and dislikes, their diet and who to call in an emergency. Spend her first days together, so that she learns your parent's day from you and your parent gets used to her with family nearby.

It depends on the helper and the care. Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile. When enough helpers match this page, it shows the median and middle range of what helpers who list elderly care ask. The official fees for her work permit and residence come on top, and our guide to hiring a maid in the UAE sets them out.

In five steps:

1. Browse the helpers on this page, or choose Elderly parent at home on the helpers page.
2. Watch her video CV, with your parent if you can.
3. Contact her directly. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.
4. Agree the care in writing, and introduce her to your parent before she starts.
5. Arrange her visa. Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners.