What Does an Elder Care Specialist Do?

Elder care involves lot of patience and knowledge about their conditions. Unless you are aware of their medical issues, symptoms and its stages you wouldn’t be able to cater to their needs properly. Our lifestyles and professions these days allow very little time for the home front. Senior home care services understand this and offer professional services for the elderly in our home. They do a variety of things related to taking care of the senior citizens. The elder care job description can be broadly categorized into three, viz., medical or personal care, companionship, and domestic help. Following will elaborate more on the same.

Things an Elder Care Specialist Does

The job responsibility of an elder care specialist depends on the person he or she has to take care of. The responsibilities may include helping with regular chores like bathing, preparing meals, administering proper medicines at prescribed time intervals, spending time with them, taking them for a walk, so on and so forth.

Personal Caregiver

This kind of caregivers can be grouped under personal caregivers as conditions like incontinence issues arise out of medical conditions. The professionals not only need to assist or carry out tasks for the patients but also make a note of the developments and changes in their condition.

Seniors with severe medical conditions may require only companionship and observation. For example, if there is an Alzheimer’s patient, his severity of the problem, i.e. the stage of the disease will require the professional to be with them the whole time with a vigilant eye on what they are doing and to protect them from harming themselves to just being around them so that they don’t get into panic mode forgetting they belong to that home.

Non Medical Caregiver

Non medical senior home care involves creating a friendly relationship and warmth with the person. The job description is similar to a babysitter who helps develop or enhance creative activities to keep the person engaged.

Their daily task can be flexible and professional home cares provide customized services. So, if you want your loved one to be taken to a hobby class or need someone to assist them in walking, making their beds, etc. you can engage someone as a non medical caregiver.

Things to Consider before Employing Caregivers

There are certain prerequisites when you are entrusting someone with your loved one’s health as well as your property. The caregiver should be trustworthy enough for this task. Some other things that a personal visit to the office can show you are given below.

Attitude: The professional needs to have a kind and sympathetic attitude towards the elder person. They should be punctual as you are entrusting them for your absence.

Policies at Work: Check the employee insurance and other policies with the employer before finalizing the employment.

Replacement: Ask the options for replacement of a caregiver when he or she is on leave. Mention your preference for a male or female, if applicable.