Providing aged care for your loved one can be a challenging task. It is especially so if they suffer from a terminal illness. The excerpt below contains some aged care tips that can ease your responsibilities as a caregiver.
Make the Home Aged-Friendly
Making the home age-friendly will promote the independence of your loved one and help reduce feelings of helplessness that could be a recipe for mental illness. There are several ways to achieve this; for instance, you could install rails to guide them as they walk. Additionally, you could lower the shelves and make the toilet disability-friendly. If your loved one uses a wheelchair or mobility scooter, install ramps around the property.
Understand the Health Needs of Your Loved One
Meet with your loved one's doctor and inquire about their health. Your primary objective should be to understand their health needs, the medicines they take, any dietary recommendations, and the activities that they should avoid. The doctor will also inform you of red flags as their health deteriorates. This information will help improve the quality of care you provide to your loved one.
Determine the Need for a Specialised Facility
There is a wide range of facilities that accommodate seniors with health conditions. They include:
- Assisted living facilities: They encourage independent living among seniors while ensuring medical supervision.
- Nursing homes: They are best suited for seniors whose health has deteriorated to the point that they are incapacitated or require 24/7 medical attention.
- Palliative care is often offered in hospices. Hospices attend to patients with terminal illnesses such as cancer.
- Respite care facilities provide short-term accommodation to seniors whose caregivers need a break. They also take care of seniors who have been discharged from hospitals but require some assistance before they can go back to their homes.
When moving your loved one into a specialised facility, conduct some background research to ascertain the experience of staff and the facility and the quality of services that your loved one will receive. Additionally, check the facility's pricing.
Helped Your Loved One With Their Finances
As one ages, their sources of income begin to diminish, and they are left with their savings. At an early stage, you should help out your loved one with their finances to ensure they do not run into financial troubles in the future. For example, they could move into a smaller property to free up some equity from their current home. Additionally, they should have adequate health insurance.
Providing aged care for your loved should no longer be challenging. Make the home age-friendly, understand the health needs of your loved one, determine the need to move them into a specialised facility, and help them out with their finances.