It can often be difficult for the average person to take care of an elderly or ailing parent. Even if you have the best of intentions, the reality is that your work schedule, general household duties and family obligations can quickly take up all the hours in your day. An ideal solution for this problem is to hire a home health aide to visit your parent at home and provide the care that he or she needs. Although your parent might need to move into a care facility if his or her health declines, there's comfort to remaining in the home as long as possible. When you contact a local health agency and speak to an aide, here are three subjects to discuss.
Care Plan
One of the reasons for hiring a home health aide from a reputable health agency is that this health professional will assess your parent's health and develop a care plan that can be shared with you. Ideally, you will also have some say in the development of this plan, given your knowledge of the situation. A care plan basically outlines the steps that the home health aide will take on your parent's behalf. It can include help with bathing, taking medication, getting dressed and a variety of other duties around the home. Being told that the aide will work on developing this plan and will seek your input is a sign that you've come to the right agency and aide.
Handling Of Emergencies
Although you'd like to think that your parent won't face any emergency situations, the reality is that he or she could get sick or fall. It's important to ask how the home health aide handles emergencies. There should be a specific approach that this person takes that can include administering primary care, alerting the authorities if necessary, getting in contact with you or another family member and liaising with a supervisor from the health agency. It's a comfort to know that in the event of emergency, the aide will know exactly what to do.
Shift Length
It might seem like a minor detail, but it's important to know the typical shift length that the aide is comfortable working. For example, if your parent has a medical issue toward the end of the aide's shift, what's the likelihood that the aide can extend the shift? Does the aide ever work overnight? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you feel confident that the aide can stay as long as is needed.
If you're looking for a health care center in your area, visit one like Assured Healthcare.
Share17 February 2016
My husband and I recently moved his mother to an assisted living facility. My name is Audrey Martin, and I am going to share our experience with you. My mother-in-law is eighty-two years old. She has been living on her own for twelve years since her husband passed away. My husband, David, is her only child. That left us in charge of making this decision for her since she has declined to the point of not being able to make sound decisions on her own. I’m not going to tell you that it’s been easy, but I will say that it can be done. I hope that what I’m about to share proves to be helpful to you should the time come that you are the one moving a loved one to an assisted living facility. Thanks for stopping by!