Senior Care: The Most Important things for Caregivers to Remember When Caring for the Elderly

Caregivers are classified into two types. The first one is the informal caregiver who usually provides caregiving services for free. Informal caregivers are mostly family members, spouse or friend providing assistance to seniors with their ADLs or activities of daily living and some minor medical-related tasks. On the other hand, we also have formal caregivers who are paid to provide home care assistance and care to the elderly, whether in an in-home setting, assisted living or long-term care facility. Caregivers, whether they’re paid or not, also suffer from health issues themselves. This comes as no surprise given the fact that taking care of an elderly can be very stressful. Luckily, there are ways to reduce the stress of caregiving. One of the ways is to keep in mind the most important things to ensure that the relationship between the caregiver and the care recipient remains harmonious and less stressful. Here is the list of the things that must be kept in mind when caring for an elderly.

Show respect for senior’s dignity

A senior’s dignity can be easily compromised if seniors have to rely on someone else for personal care. Losing the ability to dress or bathe oneself can have a significant blow to a senior’s dignity. But, if caregivers do everything for them with much honesty and respect graceful aging won’t be impossible to achieve. Dignity basically entails adherence to the golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated in return. For this to be achieved, Home Care Assistance offers senior caregiving services which are anchored on integrity. This way preserving one’s own dignity is one less thing to worry about for the elderly. The caregiving process couldn’t be humane enough if we don’t first show respect for other people’s dignity. Home-care companies provide services such as bathing, dressing, medication management, and meals for elders living at home or with family. (Note: If you’re looking to open up a home care company, you might need the assistance of senior housing finance experts).

Caregivers must provide person-centered care

Remember that every senior is a unique individual and this uniqueness must be taken into consideration when providing care and assistance. Every senior has his or her own set of preferences and some of these may even cause a lot of inconvenience on the part of the caregiver. Ignoring these personal preferences and unique needs could bring about huge discomfort to the elderly. But, if their uniqueness, including the nitty-gritty details of their likes and dislikes is taken into account, the caregiving process would turn out to be opportunities for building rapport with the senior.

Seniors need understanding and compassion

Seniors who are recipients of caregiving usually suffer from chronic illnesses that make them easily angered, irritated or forgetful. Without compassion the entire caregiving process could be chaotic and stressful both for the elderly and the care provider. But, with much empathy, understanding and compassion the senior’s and the caregiver’s world would just naturally merge together, thereby create wonderful ways for  positive relationships to take place.

The aging population is growing along with the high-cost of assisted living and senior care. Check out this assisted living guide about more information on the costs, how to choose the right assisted living community and other important information. This trend is also expected to grow in the decades to come. We all are possible caregivers to our seniors some day. Let’s be the best caregivers today so we could also be recipients of the best care one day!