Independence is everyone’s dream. Your dad isn’t alone in his desire to age at home with as little help as possible. What happens when he does need a helping hand? Elderly care services are that helping hand he needs to stay as independent as possible. These are the ways caregivers help with your dad’s goals to age at home.
Meal Preparation
Your dad can cook his meals, right? You might be surprised. Many older adults have a harder time cooking meals. They can’t read the fine print on a recipe. Arthritis pain makes holding a knife or using a peeler difficult. Adjusting to cooking for one person instead of an entire family is also challenging.
If your dad is struggling to make meals, it’s a good time to talk about having caregivers cook for him. He can have an elderly care aide available to make his daily meals and snacks. If he doesn’t like eating alone, the caregiver can eat with him, too.
Housekeeping
Some household chores may be easy for your dad to handle. Others may be hard. He might not find it easy to vacuum his stairs. He may not be able to carry a laundry basket down to the basement. Moving the washing machine and dryer to an upstairs location can be too expensive. He can have caregivers doing his cleaning and laundry for him.
Transportation
Certain eye diseases, vision changes, arthritis, or slowed reaction times impact the ability to drive. If your dad has had a seizure or a stroke, he may not be allowed to drive. If that happens, he may be frustrated that it will impact his ability to go to stores or get to his medical and dental appointments.
Caregivers can drive him around. Your family needs to let the caregiver know when he has appointments or needs to pick up something at a store. The caregiver can run errands for your dad or bring him to the places he wants to go to.
Companionship
Rather than spend all week alone, your dad could have a companion stopping by. If he’s always calling you at work to find out when you’re going to visit him, companionship services may be ideal for him.
He has a caregiver to join him on outings, go on walks with him, and challenge him to an afternoon of board games. He’ll have someone to watch movies with or talk about books they’ve read together.
Other Services
That’s just a small list of ways caregivers help older adults remain independent. If your dad has a hard time walking up and down the stairs, ambulation or mobility services help. If he can’t get dressed or showered without help, that’s another service you should discuss.
Elderly care is easy to schedule. Call an agency and talk about the areas where your dad needs help with daily or weekly activities. Questions about prices and schedules can be addressed during this call.