Kinship means a deep connection — the bond you have with family. We chose it because it describes the thing we were actually trying to build, and because no other word in the brochure was doing that job honestly.
Your parent is matched with one dedicated companion. Not a rota, not whoever the system has free on a Tuesday. One person, who comes back week after week, long enough to learn their stories, remember which chair is theirs, and cook their favourite meals the way they have always been made.
That is a different job from the one most agencies are set up for. A worker moving through a checklist can complete every task on the sheet and still leave a house where nobody knew the person they were helping. We would rather send someone who knows that your father was a bricklayer for thirty years, that he takes two sugars, and that he will tell you about the bridge he worked on if you let him.
Not a worker ticking off a checklist — a familiar person who knows the stories.