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Personal care assistants, or PCAs, can provide tremendous help to a person with disabilities along with their partner. How? A good PCA can perform household chores and personal duties that can cause distractions in a relationship and, at times, tear away at it. Yet, conversely, a poor PCA can do just the opposite. For this reason, it's important to follow a few do's with any PCA that you invite into your life. Here are the top five.

Do...

1. Create a list of house rules and job duties with your partner to be shared with the PCA. Before you start the interview process with a PCA, sit down with your partner and create a list of house rules and job duties. This list should include areas of the house that are off limits, chores and times in which you want the PCA to retreat because of an uncomfortable situation like an argument. By doing this task together, you and your partner can agree on what is desirable in your household and eliminate (or reduce) any future misunderstandings with your PCA. It will also help avoid friction between you and your partner because you will both be on the same page.

2. Share your list of house rules and job duties with the PCA prior to hiring him or her. It's important to tell your PCA exactly what you and your partner want during the interview process. By doing so, you will give your PCA a chance to decide if he or she can actually do the job. This time is also when you get a general feel for the person. If anything in your gut is telling you that this PCA will not be welcomed by your partner or has a hidden issue, don't hire him or her. Go with the feeling and move onto the next potential candidate. Upon hiring, give the PCA a copy of your list, so he or she can refer back to it as needed.