Six Tips about Home Care for Seniors with Chronic Illnesses

Getting a diagnosis of any type of chronic illness can really throw your senior for a loop. Bringing in home care assistance as soon as possible can help you to make a dent in caring for her as well as you possibly can. Here are some more tips that can help.

Learn Everything You Can about Her Illness

Home Care Assistance in Arlington, VA: Chronic Illness

Whether this is a new illness or one that your senior has been facing for a while, you need to know as much as possible about what is going on. Talk with her medical team and make sure that you’ve got answers to any of the questions that you or your senior have. Keep those lines of communication open and work to coordinate care for your senior whenever possible.

Make Some Plans

Information allows you and your aging family member to start to make some plans. Having a care plan that allows you to address her immediate needs is crucial. If you’re not sure what sort of plan your senior needs, start by listing out what her biggest needs are right now. The plan involves how you’ll help her to get those needs met, whether that means bringing in home care assistance or finding other answers. It’s also important to make emergency plans. Your senior’s doctors can help with those if you’re not sure where to start.

Get Her Home Squared Away

Chronic illness means that your senior’s home needs to support her ability to remain independent and avoid injuries. That might mean reorganizing her home, removing clutter, and even making repairs that weren’t considered emergent before. The more her home supports your senior’s ability to be safe, the easier it will be for her to remain there if that’s her goal.

Consider Assistive Tools

There are tons of different types of assistive tools and technologies available to address a variety of needs. If your elderly family member has arthritis, there are alternative door knobs, kitchen tools, and dressing tools that can help her to do things on her own. Whatever her challenges are, look for options that help her to overcome those challenges and do so safely.

Hire Home Care Assistance

Home care assistance is a huge help for your elderly family member, but even more so when she’s facing a chronic health issue. Elder care professionals are able to help your senior to stick to a routine that supports her health needs. They can also assist with hands-on tasks like keeping up with household tasks and assisting with personal care tasks. Whatever makes your senior’s life easier and safer is something you want to consider adding to her arsenal of tools.

Take Care of Yourself, Too

As your senior’s caregiver it’s so important that you’re not expecting too much of yourself. If you’re running yourself ragged, you’ll eventually find yourself unable to keep up with what your senior needs. Elder care professionals ensure that you’re able to take respite breaks yourself, so that you don’t burn yourself out.

Chronic illness isn’t something that your senior can ignore or hope goes away. It’s important that she has a plan that helps her to have the best quality of life possible.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Home Care Assistance in Arlington, VA please contact the caring staff at Butters Home Health Care today. (703) 371-2113