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How an elderly care plan helps the care recipient and the entire family

Having a care plan in place for an elderly loved one is an important tool that you can use when planning your loved one’s home care, whether that care is temporary following a hospital stay or long-term.

What is an elderly care plan?

A care plan is a document that lays out the care needed for your loved one at home. It ensures that everyone involved in your loved one’s care understands his or her needs and coordinating all aspects of the care so that these needs are met by all involved, be it a professional caregiver, family members, and medical professionals—or all of the above.

Getting started on home care plan

Many family members come up with their own informal care plan based on their own observation and familiarity with their loved one. For those only requiring basic assistance rather than more involved care or advanced home care for medical conditions, this type of informal plan may be sufficient. If, however, your loved one requires more assistance that you or your family can provide, a care plan should be created with a professional.

This begins with an in-home assessment by our Director of Care RN (registered nurse) who will identify your loved one’s needs.

While your loved one’s health-related needs take top priority, their emotional, social, and spiritual needs are also taken into consideration, along with your loved one’s personality and preferences.

With all of these considerations, the RN will determine which home care services needed and work with you and the care recipient to fine tune the care plan, ensuring that all bases are covered.

The importance of involving the care recipient when creating a care plan

In order to help preserve their dignity and autonomy, it’s important that the person receiving the care take part in the creation of their care plan if they’re able.

Well-meaning family members often dismiss the opinions or recommendations of their elderly loved one because they believe they know what’s best. While this usually comes from a good place, it’s important to allow their voice to be heard and respect their decisions and wishes as much as possible.

How a professional determines what’s included in an elderly care plan

If you enlist the help of a professional, such as our Director of Care RN, to help create a care plan for your loved one, the following are things that will be taken into consideration:

• The current state of the care recipient’s physical and mental health
• Whether your loved one needs medical assistance, such as medication administration or dressing changes.
• The amount of assistance required with day-today chores, such as meal preparation and housekeeping.
• Assistance needed with activities of daily living, like bathing, feeding, and toileting.
• Any mobility issues inside the home, such as trouble climbing stairs or moving from one room to another.
• Any assistive equipment or devices your loved one needs, such as a wheelchair or lift.
• Other caregivers involved, including you or other family members or friends, medical professionals, etc.
• Whether home care services required on a short-term or long-term, live-in or live-out basis.

On a more personal level, our RN will also take into consideration other things that will help not only your loved one, but the rest of the family maintain the best quality of life, too.

Our RN will want to know:

• What does your loved one believe she/he needs help with the most to be able to live as independently as possible?
• What do you and your family members want for your loved one’s care?
• How much care can you or your loved one’s provide without overextending yourselves?
• Does your loved one have friends that visit or other social activities they miss or would like to keep up, such as going to senior center?
• Do they attend a place of worship, such as church, synagogue, or mosque?
• How can we help your loved one maintain their social connections?

Once a care plan has been determined, the next step will be to choose the best caregiver for your loved one.

Our in-home assessment helps find the caregivers with the experience and personality needed to best meet your loved one’s needs and preferences.

Based on your needs, we select two or three caregivers to visit your home so that the care recipient and/or family can make their selection for the best possible match.

If you would like to book an in-home assessment with our RN, give us a call. We’re here to help.