- Blog Archive
A big part of taking care of your senior in the way that she needs you to, involves looking at what she needs now and will most likely need in the future and doing what you can to meet those needs. It’s easier to do that if you’re tracking your progress and hers.
Address Safety Considerations
Safety is always going to be your senior’s primary need. It’s where your focus is going to be as a caregiver, and it can be difficult to manage at first if you’re new to caregiving. Go with the obvious concerns first, such as loose stair treads, lack of accessible handrails, and obvious tripping hazards, like clutter. Lighting is another big concern. If it helps, think about home maintenance first and you can build out your list from there, because most home maintenance tasks involve maintaining safety around the house.
Get a Good Baseline of Current Health
Your senior’s doctor can help you to map out needs as well. If she hasn’t kept up with going to the doctor, now is the time. You need to have some information about her current health issues and whether they’re likely to become more severe at any time in the near future. Having an accurate prognosis gives you tools you need in order to make decisions for your senior.
Ask Your Senior What Would Make Her Life Better
Sit down and talk to your elderly family member about what she wants and what would make her life better. What could give her easier access to the activities that she enjoys or that she still wants to do? That might involve starting to exercise so that her muscles are stronger, but it might also involve letting other people like elder care providers help her during each day. Your senior might be worried that the changes you’re proposing will take away her independence, but that isn’t what all of this is about.
Keep a Log or Journal to Help You See Progress
Some of the solutions you might want to put into place may not be necessary right now, but you know that they will be. Keeping a running list ensures you won’t forget about them. You also need to track how well what you’re doing is working, both for you and for your senior. With a logbook or journal devoted to that purpose, you’ve got information you can look back on to see how far you’ve come and what’s still left to do.
You might find it difficult to gather and to keep up with all this information, especially while you’re providing daily for your senior’s current needs. That’s why having help from elder care services can be just what you need. Their experience and insights can assist you in spotting and meeting all sorts of needs.
Excerpt: As a caregiver, you need to be able to make some predictions here and there, which seems impossible. When you’re tracking what’s going on, though, it’s a lot easier.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Elder Care St. Andrews, SC, please talk to our caring staff. Call today (803) 223-6173.