Category Archives: Elders

Three Ways to Get Time for Yourself When Caring for the Elderly

Taking care of an elderly loved one is something you might do without thinking twice. When one of your parents becomes ill and needs more help, you might open your doors and let that individual move in right away. You probably don’t realize how hard this is or how much time it takes up though. With the right programs and professional help, you can care for a loved one and still get time for yourself.

Day Care

One way you can get more time for yourself is with a day care program. Designed for the elderly, these programs let you drop your loved one off in the morning and pick him or her up later in the day. The programs often feature activities such as games that guests can play. Workers will monitor your loved one and let you know about any problems they had or issues they noticed.

Travel Nurse

If you have an elderly person living with you who suffers from some serious medical problems, you can hire a travel nurse to stop by a few times a week. A travel nurse is a professional with a nursing license who works on a freelance basis and with multiple clients a week. The nurse can take vital signs and administer the medications that the individual needs. You can ask your loved one’s doctor for help choosing a travel nurse.

Home Health

Another way to get more time for yourself is with elder care assistance from a local company. Home health companies will send workers to your home who can look after your loved one anytime you need help. They can assist with daily living tasks such as washing the individual’s hair and helping him or her dress, but they can also prepare meals and just sit with your loved one while you get some work done around the house. Home health workers can even stay there while you run errands. With these programs and some professional help, you can care for a loved one and still have some time for yourself.

Assistance In The Home

Sometimes, a family might not want to go to a nursing facility to receive the care that is needed for health or safety issues. A home care service can come to the home to provide the care that is needed on certain days of the week or 24 hours a day depending on how often the person needs someone in the home. There are a few different types of personal care services Greenwich CT companies offer. When you know that this is the kind of service that you need, it’s best to talk to a few different companies to get a better understanding of how they treat clients and to learn about the background of the company. Get referrals as well before you hire someone to care for your loved one.

A personal assistant can come to the home to help with everything from bathing to cooking meals. Someone will come to the home to find out what the client needs help with and assign a caregiver who can perform those services. Most of the time, the same worker will come to the home so that the client feels comfortable. There are also caregivers who help with transportation to doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, and to run errands. Some businesses provide domestic services that the client can no longer perform in the home. These include cleaning the home, doing laundry, ironing, and gardening. Domestic services can be scheduled for certain days of the week or for every day along with other services that the client receives. Assistance with meals can be given whether it’s preparing meals that the client or a family member can heat later or assist with feeding the client. Caregivers can also help with medications so that the client takes them as scheduled and so that the client doesn’t confuse medications with each other.

Enjoy your retirement

I know that you still have a long way to go before your retirement day comes. But this early, you should be able to make your own long-term plan based on your realistic capabilities (physical strength).

Start planning when you are still working. Think of activities which you enjoy but which you have no time to do. For instance, if you love gardening, you may plan on how to develop or rehabilitate your neglected garden. You may prepare to resume a hobby in woodworking or sewing, to study or to travel to places you liked or have not seen before.

Take up hobbies which are less strenuous like reading and which may have moneymaking possibilities like sewing, growing flowers, herbs or house plants, raising animals, repairing analog tv, cooking, and tutoring.
Join in social activities which you can start in your active years and continue after you have retired. Try and involved your family and friends in these.