“I don’t need any help!” your father yells as you try to help him up from the floor. This is the third time in six weeks that he has tripped – that you know of – and he is being just as stubborn about it as ever. His arthritis is making it hard for him to walk, and the tremor in his muscles from his Parkinson’s doesn’t help either. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he seems to be having memory problems too: he forgot to take his Parkinson’s medication twice last week.
Understandably, you feel overwhelmed. You can’t always be around to take care of your father, and he doesn’t seem to be doing very well on his own. You’re afraid that if you don’t figure out something soon, the next fall will be much worse.
If this sounds like you, home care services might be the solution for you and your family. Home care services providers come to your aging loved one’s house every day to help them with day-to-day tasks, and to remind them to take their medications at the proper time.
There are many benefits to having a home care aide, which include having someone to:
- Help your loved one get dressed
- Help your loved one shower or bathe
- Help your loved one in the bathroom
- Help your loved one cook
- Clean the house
- Remind your loved one about medications
- Help your loved one if they fall
- Keep pathways clear to prevent falls from happening in the first place
- Drive your loved one to doctor’s appointments
A home care aide can be thought of like an assistant to your aging loved one. They are there to take care of them, but in a way that does not make your loved one feel like they are being babied. If your mother or father is stubborn like the one in the example at the beginning of this article, thinking of the home care aide as more of an “assistant” than an “aide” might be helpful. Tell them about all the benefits listed above, and let them know that that is not the extent of the benefits that come with a home care aide.
Home care aides can also help your loved one to do the hobbies they enjoy, like gardening or crafts. They can also help them to get in shape by going for walks with them, or “spotting” them while they exercise. Having help in these areas can make your loved one feel more secure and self-confident, which can improve their overall mood and well-being.
Hiring home care services can also benefit you because you will know that your loved one is safe and being cared for at all times. You don’t have to worry that your father has fallen again and hurt himself, or that he has forgotten his medication, because there will be someone there to keep those things from happening.
This peace of mind can really improve your relationship with your loved one, because you will feel much less stressed, and much better able to spend time with them as a family member, instead of someone who is just there to check up on them.
