For anyone interested in the world of senior home safety, the idea of homemaking services for elderly will be either familiar or sought after. This service may seem to be of little importance when compared to live-in or companionship care, but it is still needed. That said, the question is “Why is this the case?”; there are quite a few things that contribute to the importance of this particular service.
Before we get into them, we have to look at these services as a whole and then gauge their importance. This in-depth look will show us the characteristics of homemaking as well as show us how to go about it according to Galaxy Home Care. Without wasting much time, let’s have a closer look at homemaking services for the elderly.
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Duties performed when providing homemaking services
Homemaking is an essential part of the entire senior health and safety care sector. Underneath this umbrella are several duties that care assistants are supposed to carry out.
Said duties can be categorized into three parts: household maintenance, general errands and client transportation. Without further wastage of time, these duties are as follows:
Household maintenance
This category simply refers to all the household chores that the elderly client can either no longer perform or doesn’t care to. These chores include the usual such as:
- making the bed
- washing the dishes
- cleaning the house
- doing the laundry
- cleaning the machinery
- arranging or rearranging the furniture
- mowing the lawn and cleaning the yard
- taking care of the trash, shopping, etc.
These are just a few of the duties that come with this job. That said, if you are new to homemaking, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that certain jobs are specific to a client’s current state.
You can call a support team of a quality and reliable homecare company and ask for more questions according to your needs and requirements. You can find such a company by the feedback of previous customers online.
General tasks
This aspect of house-making had to do with the carrying out of important or menial tasks outside the house. These errands include the likes of:
- Paying the bills
- Going to the store to get groceries
- Walking the dogs
- Sorting the mail
- Other secretarial duties and
- Anything the client wants at a given time
Our elders either don’t have the time or the health to carry these duties out. As such caregivers are required to also create plans and fit in these duties to keep track of them and perform them efficiently.
Client transportation
The thought of losing mobility as we get older is a scary one, but it is inevitable. As such, at a certain age, we will have no choice but to have some assistance with even the smallest of things. Walking around and especially driving are two things that they will need help with.
However, this really only applies to the really old and severely sick seniors among us. For these cases, the smallest of movements require assistance. Caregivers should expect to do some if not all of the following transportation duties, for example, helping clients to:
- get out of bed
- go to the bathroom
- exercise
- go for walks
- drive for various appointments.
With that out of the way, you need to remember that based on the state of an elderly client, their current residence may not be conducive. This often prompts medical professionals and loved ones to advise them to move to more appropriate and health-conscious places.
However, if this option doesn’t sound appealing, some companies offer something entirely different. This solution is the actual modification of the house’s entire layout. This is done to facilitate movement, especially if the client is ill or has an injury. This type of modification is responsible for the addition of lifts as well as for making houses available to those in wheelchairs.
The care assistants
These people are the most important part of homemaking because they do the job. Oftentimes the people assigned to do this job are those closest to the client such as friends and family members. However, these people aren’t the most qualified to handle the job and they normally have their own lives.
It is for this reason that professional companies with many care assistants should be heavily considered. The care assistants representing quality senior care companies are always going to be well-trained or have lots of experience. As such, they know what they are doing and can be trusted to do right by those they love.
Challenges you can face
Being a care assistant is not easy as there will be several challenges that can get workers off their game. The different and sometimes rough personalities and difficult situations are enough to make anyone try to give up. This is why aspiring care assistants should embody certain values before they even think of going down this route.
The first of these values is patience, which is reserved for the more difficult and hard-headed clients who may not want your help. It is this value that feeds directly into the next one, which is understanding and compassion. Clients, whether or not they are difficult, are human beings who need help.
In the case of those who act difficult, it may be because of the embarrassment that comes with not being able to do what they used to. This is just one among the many reasons that requires care assistants to be compassionate, probably, psychological help.
Final thoughts
With everything looked at, we can now talk about the overall importance of homemaking in the world of home senior care. This part really shouldn’t take that long because it is ultimately about one thing which is to take care of those we love.
At the end of the day, homemaking is just a way of making their lives as easy as they can be. At that age, they shouldn’t be thinking about house chores and errands. With these things out of their way, all they have to do is think about healing their sicknesses and just feeling comfortable.
