Home Care Services

When you picture in-home care services, you might imagine a senior or injured individual receiving greatly needed assistance. This is a legitimate and common reason to enlist home care services, but it’s not the only reason.

Home care includes housekeeping, personal care, meal preparation, personal nursing service, foot care, and much more.

Housekeeping:

Generally, a housekeeping service works closely with the client to determine types of duties to be performed and the schedule. Duties could be completed on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis depending on needs. Housekeepers are fully trained and are insured by the company, so you don’t need to worry about safety or insurance issues. Duties performed include vacuuming, changing bed linens, doing laundry, cleaning washrooms, floor cleaning, emptying garbage bins, dusting furniture, cleaning counter tops ovens and stoves, polishing kitchen appliances and silverware, and organizing closets and cupboards. A housekeeper will also report potential maintenance issues or safety hazards to the management.

Personal Care

Regular home care visits can help ensure safety and well being. Whether that means help with bathing and using the toilet or companionship,  Home care professionals also watch for any change in condition, meaning anything unusual will immediately be reported. Another aspect of person care is companionship. Having someone to keep you company and take interest in you and those things that are most important to you, can be just what you need to brighten up your days.

A good home care company will also strive to find a match in personality  between the caregiver and your mother, father, grandmother, or grandfather.

Personal Care Services

• Bathing and showering
• Hair washing
• Medication reminders
• Help with morning wake-up  and breakfast
• Bedtime assistance
• Companionship

Home Support

• Maintaining a Safe Environment
• Conversation and Companionship
• Arranging appointments
• Planning activities

Nursing Services

• Day-to-Day Nursing
• Comprehensive Wound Treatment
• Palliative Care
• Respite Care by both RN’s and LPN’s

Registered Nurses

A registered nurse has more of a critical thinking role in the healthcare setting. They administer medications, treatments, offer educational advice to patients and the public, and have a higher earning potential. Other duties include coordinating patient plans, running diagnostic tests and analyzing the results, advising post-treatment health management plans to patients, and overseeing other professionals such as LPNs, nursing aides and home care aides.

Licensed Practical Nurses

Licensed Practical Nurses work duties include basic medical and nursing care. For example, LPNs are responsible for checking blood pressure, inserting catheters, bathing & dressing, discussing health care with patients, reporting the status of a patient to registered nurses and doctors, etc.

Respite Care:

What is respite care?

Respite care is short-term accommodation that can take place in the comfort of your own home or in a facility outside of the home where a loved one may be placed. This service provides time-limited breaks for families and unpaid caregivers. Children with developmental disabilities and adults with intellectual disabilities can benefit from these services.

Respite care services are beneficial to both the caregiver and the loved one. In fact, they provide support and maintain the primary care giving relationship while catering a positive experience to the person receiving care. Respite care gives the care giver a break while the loved one can continue receiving care in a safe environment.

In-home respite care:

In-home respite care occurs in the comfort of your own home, so your loved one does not need to leave their familiar home environment. This occurs in the form of scheduled temporary non-medical care and/or supervision in the person’s home by a volunteer or paid help.

Services include:

• Relieving family members from constant demands of care giving
• Providing assistance to family members in enabling the person to stay at home
• Appropriate care & supervision to ensure person’s safety in absence of a family member
• Attending to basic self-care needs and activities that would normally be performed by a family member

Foot Care

Foot care is something many of us take for granted, until a simple task such as cutting your toe nails becomes unmanageable. Warding off fungal and bacterial infections, dry skin, calluses and corns, and addressing hammer toes, heel spurs, and bunions are all important aspects of overall hygiene – especially as we age. What many of us do not realize is that healthy, pain-free feet are vital for good balance, and can prevent falls that result in serious injury.

In home foot care can be the perfect solution for those who are busy, inexperienced, or do not have interest in managing their parents’ foot hygiene.

A licensed practical nurse, which specializes in foot care, can be the perfect fit to help take care of your parents’ feet.  A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) can be scheduled for periodic in home visits, usually every four to six weeks.

For high risk foot care clients, such as those who have diabetes, nerve damage, circulation problems, or for those who have disabilities, a LPN will be able to adequately address all foot care needs, big or small.

A LPN helps a client by cutting and filing nails, reducing corns and calluses, and treating fungal and bacterial infections. They also provide education to clients, refer clients to other foot care professionals for pain prevention or complications, and can assess proper foot wear and foot aides.

Occupational Therapy

What is Occupational Therapy & What Does an Occupational Therapist do?

Occupational therapy is a type of health care that helps to solve the problems that interfere with a person’s ability to accomplish daily living tasks and enjoy leisure activities. An Occupational Therapist is trained to assess potential risks, such as replacing the old gas stove which may accidentally be left on by an aging parent with a safer electric model, removing potential tripping hazards for those who are injured or who suffer from a disability, or assessing a work environment and providing ergonomic recommendations.

An OT will also assess things you probably never would have thought of. Infrequent tasks like “spring cleaning,” clearing out the garage, or cleaning the gutters may not be feasible with the development of chronic pain, after surgery, or after an accident.

Seeking support and maintaining your own health are key to longevity and a comfortable life. Home Care offers a wide variety of essential services that can help restore health and promote longevity.