In practicing home care within your own household there are a lot of factors to be considered beforehand. It is important to talk about the benefits, formal or informal issues and also take into consideration the issues about the priorities for the care of the elders. You have to develop a primary goal to help the elders in case a crisis or emergency arises.
A successful home care should always maintain a sense that everybody should think about the independence and the dignity of the elders and support them to maintain their quality of life. Most of them locked themselves inside their home. We want to inform them that everyone cares about what’s important for them as well as their situation. This is to help them plan their future and identify what’s important and what’s not.
Ask them these questions like do they want to live near their family member and friends? Is privacy important to them? Is there a need to keep their pets at home? Do they want to stay in a place where they feel most secure? Do they have access to activities that they enjoy and access their place of worship? Do they have the ability to maintain a clean surrounding and personal hygiene? Is there a need for a nutritious meal and assistance with preparation? Is there a need to control or maintain their spending or assistance with financial matters? Do they need transportation, home, and medical care assistance services? Do they want to be involved in a volunteer work?
Such questions will help you identify the place to start with. If there is a need to seek advice and help from a professional or a friend or anyone that your parents have their high regard to make them begin to discuss ideas and needs, then invite them. Some elders can take advice from their doctor, their religious leader or a close friend. These trusted people could help you pass on your concerns and guide your parents in the right direction. You should avoid starting a personal rebuttal because this might draw them away from you. This might not be easy but you need to focus on the aim of sustaining their total freedom and exceptional home health care for them.
A family discussion might require you to invite a professional. A neutral party will be necessary if the family members faces problems working together or when divided with a major problem. There are available case managers, elder-care facilitators, social workers, and family mediators that can provide these services. They will not be playing a deciding body but rather help you keep the focus on the concerns and deal with areas that should be brought up in the family.
So how will you find out what degree of home care benefits is needed? You need to evaluate the structural hindrances inside the home that limits independence. What are the durable medical devices present or needed? What are the casual support systems for caregivers? Are they home staying? Could they continue to provide on-going support? How frequently does a caregiver assistance needed? How many times per day or per week do they need the assistance? What sort of informal assistance is required? Bathing, toileting, dressing, meal preparation, laundry, housekeeping, telephone assistance, shopping, and finances? Do they require a support with their socialization, recreation, companionship, etc.? Do they need a power of attorney or a health care agent? Will they need an advocate to help and coordinate their participation on a proper medical care? Do they experience a present cognitive or mental condition? Are they experiencing depression or anxiety? Is there a need to control their extreme and bizarre personal hygiene habits? Are they wandering too much? Do they exhibit abusive physical or verbal behavior? Do they exhibit poor judgment or noncooperation that they cause trouble to others?
Elders may or may not have any of the mentioned behaviors. If this is the case then you need to determine if the elder need supervision due to its cognitive impairment or poor judgment. This will help you decide whether the elder needs home care benefits and to what extent it is needed. How frequent the elder requires supervision? You can answer this question by none at all, less than daily, daily but not constant and all of the time. Determining what extent of home care assistance that the elders needed can be only determined through this assessment process and to answer these questions before providing them anything.
Originally written by,
Kathleen S. Devlin
Source: http://www.allabouthomecareinri.com/how-to-handle-home-care-for-elders