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4 Tips That Will Make Providing Home Care to an Elderly Parent Smoother

Are you currently providing home care to an elderly parent? Perhaps you have moved your parent into your home, or maybe you’re providing care in their own home. Either way, it can be a lot, both emotionally and physically, especially if it’s a new situation. With that said, we’ve got a handful of tips that can help things go smoother, keeping the focus on the health and well-being of your parent.

Assess Your Parent’s Needs

A very important place to start when providing home care to a parent is by assessing their needs. This is something that can be done with the assistance of their doctor/primary care provider. You want to be sure you understand what they need, how often they need help, and what specific chores/tasks they need assistance with. You also need to recognize whether they have a progressive illness that may require additional support as time passes.

Be Honest with Yourself About What You Can Offer

After assessing your parent’s needs, you need to then be honest with yourself about how much you can offer. Can you provide all of the help they need, or will you need some extra help? Keep in mind that it’s not realistic or healthy to dedicate all your free time to home care. You need to be able to relax and have some downtime, so that needs to be factored into the plan.

There’s also the fact that if your parent has any serious conditions, your help alone may not be enough. This is especially true for elderly people with mobility issues.

Who Can You Turn to for Caregiver Assistance?

If you’ve concluded that you won’t be able to offer all the support and assistance needed on your own, you need to start thinking about who else can help. Some ideas can include:

  • Other family members such as a sibling
  • Local senior companion programs
  • Professional in-home caregiver services
  • At-home meal delivery services
  • Housekeeping services
  • Laundry services

Any help that you can find will make your role easier and will ensure that your parent’s care and health isn’t sacrificed. You may even want to put together a caregiver schedule so it’s clear who is doing what and when/how often.

Stock Up on Home Care Essentials

If you’ve never provided home care to someone before, then you may not realize there are some home care essentials that can make your life much easier and help to keep your parent comfortable. You can look into items such as the MIP hospital bedding collection, products meant for incontinence, bibs, reusable face masks if needed, and so forth. The focus should be on items that make clean up simple and fast, and yet add a level of comfort and safety for your parent.

Adjusting to the role of caregiver for your elderly parent can be stressful and even overwhelming. It can be a lot to take in and be responsible for, which is why it’s so important to have a plan, a schedule and realistic expectations.