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How In-Home Care Providers Can Help Your Elderly Loved One

In-Home Care in Las Vegas NV
In-Home Care in Las Vegas NV

When a senior gets released from the hospital and goes home, it might be reassuring to see familiar faces. However, if no arrangements are in place to facilitate a seamless transition, it may be challenging. Seniors who do not get enough care at home are more likely to need hospitalization. They are not ill enough to need rehabilitation, but they are also not healthy enough to be left alone. In many circumstances, someone needs to check on them, support them in any manner, and be with them during this potentially stressful time. Here are some reasons why in-home care can be a great thing for seniors, especially after a hospital stay.

In-Home Care Provides Medication Reminders

Many caregivers will not be able to handle medications or give them to a senior; however, they can give good reminders to seniors. When a senior has prescribed medication, it can be perilous to miss a dose or forget to take it. This is why having someone who knows their schedule is crucial when a senior gets home from a hospital trip. Before a senior goes into surgery, it is going to be important to talk to the doctor and find out if they recommend hiring someone outside of a family member.

In-Home Care Provides Extra Safety

Sometimes seniors want to live on their own, which is perfect unless they are recovering from something or need extra help. Even if they need help around the house, that doesn’t mean they need to be moved into a nursing home. It means you need to hire someone to help around the house. In-home care professionals can help ensure a senior stays safe while at home. They can help them cook, clean, get dressed, and be a second set of eyes on your elderly loved one.

Home care allows elders to return to a more regular and less stressful lifestyle after hospitalization or rehabilitation. Laundry, food shopping, doctor’s visits, mild housework, and grooming are all taken care of. Someone is constantly there to offer a comfortable home environment and aid with mobility concerns such as walking or moving from a bed to a wheelchair, always watching out for the safety of your loved one.

Caregivers Provide Companionship

In-home care is one of the best ways to ensure a senior has someone around. It could limit the amount of loneliness they feel. Following hospitalization, your loved one’s emotional condition may be quite vulnerable. When you go home, having someone to speak to who would listen and offer the empathetic company is incredibly soothing. There is a lot of help, whether going for walks or other activities, playing games, or encouraging your loved one to pick up a passion again.

Elder Care Helps With Proper Nutrition

If your loved one is on a special diet, the caregiver can ensure that he or she is eating the proper meals. If necessary, your loved one’s caretaker can cook simple, wholesome meals. Advance preparation ensures that your loved one’s transition from hospital to home is as smooth as possible, with all essential requirements met.

If you are considering in-home care in Las Vegas, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

How Well is Your Dad Doing Living Alone?

Senior Home Care in Summerlin NV
Senior Home Care in Summerlin NV

When was the last time you gathered as a family to catch up and see how your dad’s doing? It’s time to have that dinner. Many families are only available to gather once a year, and in a year’s time, a lot can change. As you gather, here are some of the things you need to be watching for in your dad’s home. Once you’ve taken stock of his current situation, you can begin to asses if it’s time to bring in senior home care to help out.

How Are His Food Inventories?

How much food does your dad have on hand? Is he shopping regularly and stocked with healthy food options? If he’s ordering takeout regularly and not doing the shopping, ask him why. Is he able to drive? Does he find shopping overwhelming?

Is He Taking Care of Himself?

Does your dad shower a minimum of every few days? If you notice body odor and he’s not very active, he may be avoiding showers. Find out why. If he fell coming out of the shower, he may be fearful of being alone when he washes himself. A shower seat and grab bars can boost his confidence.

See if your dad has seen his doctor in the past year. Is he going for two dental cleanings per year? He should be seeing his doctor and dentist that often, or possibly more often if he has a chronic health condition or gum disease.

How is His Mobility?

As you watch your dad, see how well he moves around. Does he seem unsteady when he first stands up from a sofa or chair? Does he shuffle while he walks? How is he on the stairs?

When he’s moving around or standing in one space, does he seem to hold onto items for support? If so, it could be time to invest in a cane to provide some support while he’s walking. Talk to him about it, and make sure he knows that there are some amazing canes now. He could have one with built-in LED lighting to illuminate a hallway while he walks.

How Clean is the House?

How clean is his home? Does he have mounds of laundry that he can’t get downstairs to the laundry room? Is he re-wearing clothing rather than washing it? Does he wash items in a sink rather than make the trip to his laundry room?

Does your dad vacuum stairs or are they building up pet hair and dust? Is he able to carry and push his vacuum around or is it too difficult?

Talk with Him About Senior Home Care

Take time once a month or as often as you can to have family meals. Use this time to see how your dad’s doing and judge whether it’s time to have someone helping him with household chores or personal care.

As you talk to him about his safety and needs as he ages at home, make sure he realizes he’s in control. Senior home care isn’t about taking away his independence, it’s about the helping hand he needs from time to time to remain independent. Involve him in talks with a senior home care specialist when you make the call.

If you are considering senior home care in Summerlin, NV, for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.

Six Ways to Help Your Dad Complete Daily Tasks Without Frustration

Home Care in Las Vegas NV
Home Care in Las Vegas NV

Your dad has a harder time living independently for some reason. He might have arthritis or dementia. He may have had a stroke and is regaining former skills.

Because of that, your dad becomes very frustrated when trying to do his tasks. You don’t want to get in his way, but you also want to make sure he’s supported. How can you help him complete his daily routines when he is so easily frustrated? Here are a few ideas and how home care can help.

Create a To-Do List

Create a to-do list that he can follow each day. It gives him structure to follow, which is especially helpful if he often forgets. A reusable to-do list is best.

Use a permanent marker on a whiteboard. Write his daily tasks in permanent marker, and make boxes next to each item that he can check off with a dry erase marker. That way, you’re not creating lists every day.

Step In Only as Needed

Don’t help your dad unless he really needs it. Let him try to do things on his own. When he struggles, offer to help.

Follow his cues. Make sure you offer and don’t just take over. Let him guide you into the areas where you help and step back when he doesn’t think he needs your assistance.

Teach Him Ways to Step Back and De-Stress

Frustration can lead to stress, and that stress makes him more frustrated. If your dad is feeling frustrated, it can help to stop and de-stress. Make sure he knows how to stop, take a deep breath, and clear his mind before he tries again.

One of the easiest ways to ease stress and frustration is by stopping everything and focusing on his breathing. Stepping outside for fresh air also helps. When he breathes, he wants to get his stomach to extend. Have him hold his breath in for a count of five and then slowly breathe out.

Invest in Equipment to Help Him

Support your dad by investing in tools that help him stay independent. A grabber tool can help him reach items he dropped or grasp items on upper shelves. Grab bars help him with stability getting in and out of the shower or bathtub.

Pay Attention to Changes

Pay attention to your dad’s changing abilities. As he gets older or his health changes, he may need more help than he currently gets. If you’re noticing those changes as they happen, you’re able to plan ahead.

You can arrange to help him more as he needs it. For example, you might see your dad suddenly having difficulty on the stairs. Before he falls, you could add services like laundry that stop him from having to go up and down the stairs to get to the laundry room.

Hire Home Care to Help

Your dad may not want to accept help from you. It can be challenging to rely on your children, especially when you’re used to being in a parental role. Your dad’s frustration may be related to his embarrassment.

To prevent the frustration linked to embarrassment, hire a caregiver to help him. Home care aides can help your dad with his daily routine. With home care, your dad has a caregiver to assist with housekeeping, laundry, transportation, meals, and anything else he cannot do independently.

Source: https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/stages-behaviors/agression-anger

If you are considering home care in Las Vegas, NV, for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.