Do Your Parents Need Home Care During the Night?

Home Care in Wendell, NC

Arranging home care for your elderly parents can be a powerful and effective way of making sure they get to age in place in the surroundings they know and love, while remaining safe and healthy. A referred caregiver can offer physical and emotional care and assistance that addresses the individual needs of your senior loved ones and help them to fulfill their activities of daily living, remain socially engaged, and maintain compliance with their medications and treatments so you can have peace of mind knowing they are safe, secure, happy, and healthy even when you are not able to be with them to give care.

Determining how much care your elderly parents need on a regular basis is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your parents receive the personalized, compassionate care they need without overwhelming them or threatening their continued independence. For many seniors just starting a care relationship, having a referred caregiver in the home or accompanying your parents on errands a few hours each day or every other day is all that is necessary until physical and cognitive needs necessitate the increase in care. For others, continuous care and assistance are essential for staying safe and healthy.

Many family caregivers face the difficult decision of whether their aging loved ones are able to be alone at night or need 24-hour awake care in order to address their specific needs and challenges. It may seem overwhelming to think about having a referred caregiver in the home with your parents 24 hours a day, but for certain seniors, having two or more referred caregivers rotate through shifts to offer care day and night provides valuable protection and assistance that make it possible for them to age at home.

Some seniors who may benefit from having home care during the night include:

• Those with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia who tend to wander
• Those with severe mobility problems
• Fall risks
• Those who have Sundowners
• Those who need compliance reminders for medications and treatments during both the day and night
• Those with severe insomnia
• Those recovering from serious injuries or illnesses and need monitoring for specific symptoms

How much care your parents need is a personal decision that depends on their specific needs and your availability to offer care. Ask yourself these questions to help you determine if your parents would benefit from having a referred caregiver in the home throughout the night:

• Do your parents frequently fall out of bed or suffer falls while attempting to go the restroom in the middle of the night?
• Are your seniors wandering risks who may leave the home and get lost?
• Do your parents have cognitive challenges such as memory loss or limited problem solving capability that leads to them doing unsafe activities such as turning on the oven and forgetting it, or opening the doors and leaving them open?
• Does one of your parents stay up most of the night and keep the other from resting?
• Do you worry that your parents are not safe when they are alone in the home?

The articles posted on this blog are provided for general information and discussion purposes only.  These articles are not intended to suggest anything with respect to the operations or services of this office.