Many seniors opt to live at home during their retirement years. It makes sense to want to be in a familiar, comfortable environment, a place that has truly been made “home” through years of hard work and loving care.
In many instances, these individuals can benefit greatly from a level of in-home care assistance. In today’s blog, we cover some of the important in-home care services that caregivers provide to help seniors remain in the comfort and security of their own home.
If you or a loved one could use assistance in any of these areas, feel free to contact Collier Home Care and inquire about our home health care services in and around Naples, Florida.
Personal Care Services Help With Everyday Tasks
As we get older, tasks that we once rushed through without even thinking about can become more challenging, and facing a long list of everyday activities that need to be done on a regular basis can become daunting.
With expert help in the key areas that need to be addressed, stress is greatly reduced and quality of life can increase by leaps and bounds! Personal care tasks can fall within any of these categories:
- Bathing and Grooming: Getting into the tub and accessing all those hard-to-reach places can make bathing, showering, and grooming a challenge. In-home caregivers are trained to assist with these important tasks for the health and hygiene of the client.
- Getting Dressed: Whether it’s handling the mechanics of buttons, zippers, and shoelaces, or finding it hard to pull down a shirt or dress over your head, a caregiver can help.
- Moving Around: When mobility becomes limited, getting in and out of a bed or chair, repositioning in bed, or walking from one room to the next (including with a cane, walker, wheelchair, or crutches) can be very challenging.
- Bathroom Care: From toileting to incontinence care, at-home caregivers are trained to provide help with the utmost professionalism.
- Exercises: Whether the client has an exercise program that he or she wants to follow, or a set of exercises prescribed by a medical professional (such as a physical therapist) that needs to be completed each day, senior home care can assist.
- Meals and Diets: If a client needs a hand with eating, preparing meals, or measuring portions for special diets, home health care can be invaluable.
- Medication Reminders: If you are having a hard time remembering to take your medications, an at-home caregiver can provide gentle reminders.
- Light Housekeeping: Tasks like clearing the table after a meal, tidying up the bathroom after a bath, or making the beds in the morning can be taken care of by at-home caregivers.
With professional assistance in one or more of these areas, individuals can continue to live at home independently, benefiting from senior home care that targets the services that need to be delivered without interfering with the individual’s freedom, independence, or autonomy.
Companion Care Combats Loneliness And Depression
When a person has spent a lifetime studying, working, and engaging in social activities, suddenly being at home day after day without the level of structure they’ve been accustomed to can be a bit of a shock. Loneliness can set in, along with symptoms of depression.
To combat this, many families turn to companion care for their senior loved ones. Even if just for a few hours a day, companion care can boost morale, serving as a way to keep your loved one engaged and connected. Especially for families who live far away or who have a lot going on and can’t spend as much time with the senior family member as they’d like, companion care is a godsend.
Daily visits provide companionship as well as help with certain tasks, including the following:
- Shopping and Errands: Whether it’s a trip to the grocery store or a stop at the pharmacy, companion caregivers can assist with errands.
- Laundry and Light Housekeeping: While the caregiver keeps the senior company, she or he can assist with light cleaning as well as laundry duties (washing a load and folding clothes).
- Attending Appointments: A caregiver can drive a senior to and from medical and self-care appointments (such as, to a hair or nail salon) and keep the individual company during the appointment.
- Social Activities: Whether it’s playing cards and board games at home, or going to the movies or special events, caregivers can help seniors engage in fun activities.
Skilled Nursing Care Assists With Medical Services
The third major category of in-home care services offered through senior home care agencies deals with medical services. Skilled nursing care assists with tasks associated with taking care of a senior’s health and are provided by registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.
In-home medical care services may involve one or more of the following:
- Vital Signs: Measuring and monitoring blood pressure, respiration rate, pulse, and temperature readings.
- Medication Management: Setting up what medicines the senior needs to take, helping with administering medication, and providing medication reminders.
- Post-surgery Care: Following surgery or an injury, skilled nursing care can provide help with everything from catheter maintenance to wound care.
- Injections: If the senior needs insulin or other injections, a skilled nursing caregiver can take care of this important task.
- Blood Sugar Testing: Certain medications require someone to first test blood sugar levels (and other markers) before the right dose can be administered.
Skilled nursing assistance provides the practical health-related services that a client needs to safely remain in the comfort and familiarity of home.
Reach Out To Collier Home Care To Learn More About In-Home Care
Now that you know a bit more about the key tasks that in-home care services can help with, maybe it’s time to reach out to get the specialized assistance that you or your loved one needs. Bring your questions to Collier Home Care; we serve the greater Naples, FL region, and we can help you through any of our in-home care services. Reach out to us today!