As your loved ones get older they may need assistance with daily activities or need company throughout the day. You may also be their primary carer and need some help looking after them due to family, work, or social commitments.
Care providers are able to provide day shifts of varying lengths where a carer visits your home. This option may be preferable to those who need assistance with certain daily activities, such as washing and dressing, or at meal times, but do not require round-the-clock support.Even part-time carer can prove to be an invaluable part of your loved one’s support system and can improve the quality of life of everyone involved.
What does day-time care involve?
Home help and companionship
This provides assistance with daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, bathing, shopping, and transportation. Most importantly, the carer offers companionship, stimulating conversation, someone with whom to do activities, and a nurturing friendship.
Personal care
This includes home help and companionship and also provides assistance with personal care, including bathing, shaving, oral care, toileting, and dressing. The care provider can ensure the carer can even assist with mobility, including moving and handling transfers, as well as diet management and assisting with medications.
Specialist care
A care provider may have experienced and a specially trained carer providing a tailored service depending on the needs of an individual. This allows your loved ones to carry on living an independent life, whilst ensuring personal and medical needs are met. This care can be provided on a part-time or full-time basis and includes Alzheimer’s and dementia care, cancer care, mobility care, disability care, and palliative care.
How day-time care can help
As well as providing home help, companionship, and personal care, day-time care can help to empower elderly or vulnerable to live as dignified and independent a life as possible. This is made possible by allowing individuals to stay in their homes whilst providing much-needed social interaction and structure to their daily lives. Moreover, day-time care can be provided either on a temporary or a long-term basis depending on the person’s specific needs.
This form of care can also help relieve the caregiver of their duties during the day while ensuring that their loved one still receives the proper care in a safe and friendly environment.
Questions to ask
If you think your loved one may need day-time home care, you may want to ask some of the following questions:
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Do you worry about your loved one’s safety at home while they are alone?
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Do you worry that your loved one is unhappy or bored sitting at home all day?
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Do you worry about the ongoing health of your loved one?
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Do they need assistance during the day to remember to properly take their medications or to eat healthy meals?
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Do you want help to be able to keep your loved one at home as long as possible?
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Does your loved one seem depressed?
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Does your loved one have no one to talk to?
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Do you need help providing care to your loved one?
