Personal Care for the Elderly

Advancing in age brings about many changes and these changes can affect virtually every part of life. Many times, these changes can also prompt the need for seniors to receive extra assistance getting through a normal daily routine. It is easy to recognize the problem of seniors being unable to complete the vital “Activities of Daily Living” (ADLs), including personal care, because these include attending to our most basic needs.

But many times, we don’t look past that. In reality, the inability to perform ADLs can also have a harmful emotional impact on aging seniors. The inability to complete routine ADLs without assistance may cause seniors to feel helpless, or even damage their self esteem. However, in-home care can provide invaluable assistance for elderly seniors who are struggling with ADLs, while also fostering a sense of friendship and positivity.

Personal Care for the Elderly

“Personal care” refers specifically to support and/or supervision with ADLs. Our licensed in-home care professionals provide personal care support with ADLs—each of which play a vital role in maintaining a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for seniors in need. The six major ADLs are:

Grooming

One of the things that can negatively impact how you feel about yourself is when you are unhappy with your appearance. Other people’s opinions aside, just knowing that you are well groomed and clean is an excellent way to promote happiness and satisfaction within yourself. An in-home care professional can help seniors with all manner of personal grooming related tasks.

Bathing & Hygiene

Maintaining a good level of personal hygiene is important for the health and wellbeing of seniors. Bathing assistance is included in personal care—spanning from sponge baths for seniors who are less mobile, to supervision in the shower or bathtub to ensure their safety. Additionally, an in-home care professional can help seniors with a myriad of personal hygiene-related tasks such as skin care, and/or brushing teeth.

Mobility

Many times, if an individual has severe mobility problems, assistance may be necessary to help them to safely get in/out of bed and around their living space. Safety is the highest priority as aging seniors who are struggling with mobility are more likely to be susceptible to injury should a fall or other accident occur. Light stretching and other exercises for seniors are often recommended in order to help maintain joint mobility.

Eating/Feeding

When necessary, an in-home care professional can prepare meals and feed seniors who are otherwise unable to feed themselves in a manner that promotes the dignity and respect that each individual is entitled to.

Toileting/Continence Care

Attending to daily toileting needs or providing continence care is critical. Toileting needs may range from supervision to helping seniors during the entire toileting process. Should continence care be needed, then an in-home care professional can ensure that needs are met in a sanitary manner. Our in-home care professionals understand how personal of an issue this can be and are trained to approach these situations with tact and sensitivity.

Dressing

Dressing is a basic part of daily life, but dressing and undressing can present significant difficulties and safety hazards for some seniors. Assisting seniors with getting dressed and ready for the day and changing into night clothes before bed is a valuable component of our in-home care services.

Assessing Levels of Care

Because each individual has their own unique needs, the type of care and level of care for every individual may differ. Although the level of assistance may vary, any form of support will always focus on safely meeting the care requirements of a senior. For example, some seniors may only need supervision with bathing to ensure safety, while others may be completely reliant upon hands-on assistance and are unable to complete the task on their own.

During an in-home care evaluation, a senior’s ability to perform major ADLs will be assessed. This assessment will identify what ADLs the senior is struggling with and to what degree of support they need to successfully complete them.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

In-home care may also provide support with “Instrumental Activities of Daily Living” (IADLs) which are important but do not require “hands on” care/supervision. These tasks could include assistance with tasks such as transportation or house maintenance. It is important to remember that IADLs are beneficial and can be vital for the independence of seniors. However, they do not necessarily fall under the classification of personal care.

Enriching Quality of Life

Just surviving, or simply performing those actions needed to get by each day in as basic a manner as possible, is no way for anyone to live. As age advances, and physical impediments begin to grow, the seniors may begin to feel trapped by their limitations. By working with an in-home care professional, seniors can develop a plan that will allow them to enrich their days, instead of simply surviving them.

Contact Comfort Home Care for More Information

If you would like more information on our in-home personal care services, please call Comfort Home Care or send us a message online. We strive to make the lives of aging seniors safer, easier, and more comfortable. We offer complimentary in-home care evaluations that can help you or your loved one to understand the situation and will provide professional guidance on how to best move forward.