When your parent or loved one reaches the age in which they need home care assistance from a company like ComForcare Home Care - Tarrant County, you are tasked with helping them to find the right caregivers and also helping to ensure that those caregivers are providing proper care and assistance to your loved one. While basic companionship, mobility assistance, and the like are all important aspects of senior care, there are two areas of home health care assistance that you may not think of when dealing with caregiver services for your parent. Those two areas are peri-care (cleanliness of the genital area) and general personal hygiene. These are extremely important aspects of home health care, and it is important that you know why, so you can ensure your parent receives the best care possible.
Incontinence Care
As the aging process progresses, control over the bladder and bowels can become more and more difficult. And while you may not like to think about this in regard to your parents, incontinence can be a major issue if their caregiver is not following proper procedures.
When a client is incontinent, the caregiver should perform regular checks of your parent's incontinence pads frequently and regularly. If your parent is able to detect when they have had an incontinence incident, the caregiver should start by asking your parent if they need to have their incontinence pad changed. And if not, they should simply check it to be sure.
If incontinence incidents are not taken care of quickly through pad changes, linen changes (if necessary), and proper cleaning of the peri-area and rectal area, sores can form and your parent can develop serious infections, including sepsis (a severe blood infection). So, talk to your parent to ensure that they are receiving the proper care. Your parent's caregiver should also be recording all incidents in their record-keeping, so you can check that as well to see how often your parent is cared for if they are incontinent.
Hygiene Issues
Even if your parent is not incontinent, proper hygiene in regards to both peri-care and the rest of their body is highly important. When your parent is no longer able to bathe or shower themselves, their caregivers are tasked with daily hygiene routines.
Of course, your parent may not be fond of this – nor is the caregiver necessarily. While it is not the most pleasant routine for either client or caregiver, daily bathing is essential to avoid the development of rashes, infections, foul odor, and bed sores.
Additionally, good personal hygiene will help your parent to feel better about themselves and be more willing to participate in daily activities, engage in conversation, and go on outings, which in turn will help keep their spirits up and help them to live that much longer.
So, while thinking about your senior parent's peri-care and personal hygiene may not be overly pleasant, if you want to ensure they are receiving proper home health care, these are two of the most important aspects to keep track of. Keep this in mind the next time you visit your parent or check on the caregivers' record-keeping.
Share13 February 2015
One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.