Signs Your Aging Loved One Requires Elderly Caretaker Services
People age differently. While a certain elderly individual might be able to live independently even into their 80s, others may require elderly caretaker services at home many years before that. Several signs in the elderly indicate that you must consider whether the senior citizen in your family requires a geriatric caretaker. Look for these top signs that indicate that an older individual requires in-home care or an increased level of care.
Change in Personality and Appearance
Changing behaviour and physical appearance may be one of the biggest indicators of your ageing loved one needing extra assistance at home.
- Noticeable weight loss because of poor diet and difficulty eating, shopping or cooking.
- Depression and loneliness, along with various other personality changes, such as loss of interest in activities and hobbies, extreme mood swings, being disconnected from family and friends and isolation, may also indicate the requirement for a full-time caretaker for the elderly.
- Changes in personal hygiene, unpleasant body odour because of infrequent bathing and wearing dirty clothes may also indicate that the elderly in your family are facing a shift in their mental and physical status. This signifies their functional skills are starting to decline.
- Untrimmed nails, unkempt hair and poor oral hygiene may indicate a noticeable decline in personal care and grooming habits.
- Wounds, bruises and other marks on the body may indicate changes in mobility or balance and regular falls.
- Noticeable burns on the skin may also indicate that the elderly are experiencing issues with cooking and other activities.
Inability to Perform Regular Tasks
When the elderly in your family cannot perform regular activities independently, they might require additional help and support. Signs to watch out for include:
- Difficult bathing and grooming; dressing, continence, toileting, eating, drinking, moving from the bed to the chair and walking.
- Confusion or uncertainty when performing once-familiar activities.
A caretaker in Delhi offers assistance with personal requirements, like bathing, preparing meals, light housekeeping and grooming.
Memory Issues
Increased confusion, forgetfulness and other memory loss problems may indicate the need for proper caretaking for elderly parents. You must immediately call for an in-home caretaker if you find the elderly going through the problems below:
- Forgetting to take medicines or the right dosages.
- Misplacing things and missing appointments.
- Not keeping up with bills and emails.
- Loss of reasoning skills
- Difficulty performing once-familiar activities
- Consistent use of compromised judgement, like giving away money or falling for sales pitches or scams.
- Getting lost frequently when driving or walking.
- Impaired word-finding potential.
- Repetitive speech patterns
- Inability to recall names of familiar places, objects or people.
- Inability to complete sentences.
Accidents
When ageing individuals find it difficult to get up from a seat for a long time or keep falling repeatedly, it is time to look into different in-home care options. When the safety of the elderly in your family is at risk, it should be your topmost priority to get a live-in caretaker for the elderly. In the meantime, you must check for all fall hazards, like clutter, stairs and more. Always make it a point to remove all hazards in your home to decrease the risk of a fall. Nevertheless, there will likely be another once there has been one fall.
Changes in Mental Status
Signs to look out for changes in the mental status of an aged individual include:
- Loss of interest in activities and hobbies
- Lack of motivation or drive.
- Difficulty keeping track of time
- Extreme mood swings or frequent mood changes
- Inability to return phone calls to family members and friends.
- Physically or verbally abusive behaviours
- Increased agitation
- Changes in sleep patterns like sleeping throughout the day or not sleeping at all.
These are symptoms that indicate there’s a problem with the mental well-being of an elderly and they require immediate at-home caretaking.
Neglecting Different Household Responsibilities
When the elderly start neglecting the household responsibilities they generally took up and completed once, it indicates they require good help. In that case, arranging a caretaker for the elderly becomes critical. Look for the signs below:
- Evidence of hoarding or extreme clutter.
- Inability to complete regular instrumental activities independently.
- Stacks of bounced checks, late payment notices and unopened mail.
- Changes in home organisation and cleanliness.
- Spoiled food that has not been trashed.
- Turned off utilities and calls from the collectors
- Low food supply or no healthy or fresh food
- Wet or stained furniture and carpet
- Urine odour across the house indicating incontinence
- Inability to maintain exterior areas with garbage collection and landscaping.
- Automobile scratches and dents indicating unsafe driving
- Appliances or cookware with burn marks indicating food has been left unattended while reheating or cooking.
- Unfilled prescriptions.
The Next Step!
You must take two important steps once you notice any of the signs mentioned above in your parents or other senior family members.
Determine the Level of Care Required
Once you have decided to get in-home care for your ageing adult, the next step is to determine the level of care they require. You can choose different options, like going for a few hours of regular care to get 24/7 assistance. Consider the different varieties of services your aged family member may require. Do they need assistance with meal preparation or housekeeping? Or do they require more detailed assistance with regular activities, such as dressing, grooming and bathing? These are things you must work on, discuss and decide on before choosing a caretaker in Delhi.
Research Different Options
Now that you have decided on the level of care your loved one requires at home, it is time for you to start researching available options. You can choose family caregiving or go for the services of a professional caretaker. In this case, it is best to leave the job to professionals. In-home caretakers from agencies like Vesta Elder Care are specifically trained to offer all levels of care to the elderly, customised to meet their requirements.
In-home care services are a valuable resource for individuals who require additional assistance and support with regular activities. Get in touch with the professionals at Vesta Elder Care to know more about how the senior home care services of the agency can be of great help to your loved one.
Dr. Prateek Bhardwaj is the COO of Vesta Elder Care. a physiotherapist by profession and Prateek joined the Vesta team at its time of inception. His years of experience have enriched Vesta to become a service-oriented organization and have guided the team through its many milestones