Before You Contract An In-Home Health Aide, Evaluate Your Loved One's Needs
Hiring an in-home health aide, from a company like Always Dependable, provides your loved one with access to the care they need while also giving them the comfort of remaining in their own home. Accomplishing this for your loved one should begin with an assessment of their needs. Every individual has different needs in terms of the care and services that are necessary. Taking the time to evaluate your loved one will help you pair them with a health aide best suited to meet their needs.
Mobility
Consider your loved one's mobility. Do they have a hard time making it around their home and avoid going out often? Are they still quite mobile and enjoy frequent trips to the park or some other recreational activity? This is important because you need a health-aide that can accommodate this need.
For example, for someone who enjoys leaving the house frequently, you need a health aide with their own, safe and reliable means of transportation or someone who is willing to drive a provided vehicle to take your loved one around. Make sure you are discussing this with any aide you're considering contracting. This is also a factor to consider should your loved one have regular medical appointments outside the home.
Home Maintenance
It's also important to evaluate the level at which your loved one is able to provide care to their home as well as themselves. For instance, does your loved one have a hard time performing home maintenance tasks like laundry, sweeping or moping?
While all healthcare aides will attend to medical needs, there are some providers who will also perform light housework as part of their service as well. If your loved one is in need of this additional assistance, you want to make sure you are contracting an aide that offers these services. In addition to home maintenance, some aides may perform personal hygiene care.
Medical Needs
One of the most important things to assess is the medical needs of your loved one. Some people only require light, medical care, such as administering medications or maintaining wound care. However, some people require additional treatments and care, such as physical therapy.
Since some health care aids hold multiple certifications, it would be ideal to match your loved one with an aide that can assist with these treatments. If not, it might be a good idea to look for home health aid agencies that at least have one of these professionals on staff so that you can more easily coordinate care.
The more thoroughly you assess their needs, the more confident you will be that you have found the right health aide. Make sure you are taking your time.