At Home Helpers Home Care of Austin, our company believes people suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia should be treated with dignity and respect. Our customized strategies and a group of highly experienced and qualified caregivers will guarantee that you or your loved one is able to preserve their independence in the convenience of their home. How our caregivers help:
Buddy services: Assistance with supervision, recreational activities, or checking out.
Individual care services: Assistance with bathing, dressing, consuming, working out, or other individual care.
Homemaker services: Help with housekeeping, shopping, or meal preparation.
Let us treat your loved one like family. Call us directly at: (512) 883-2365.
Few medical diagnoses can ravage a family like Alzheimer's disease or dementia. It's approximated that more than 5.5 million Americans struggle with this debilitating condition, which ranks as the 6th leading cause of death across the country. Alzheimer's disease slowly robs our loved ones of their memory and thinking abilities up until they are unable to carry out even the most routine everyday tasks. At first, you may observe just moderate symptoms that have a minimal influence on daily life:
- Short-term and long-term amnesia
- Trouble fixing basic issues
- Has problem with regular, everyday activities
- Forgets words or begins mixing up words
- Loses items or ends up being lost more regularly
- Becomes confused about current time or place
- Confuses the names and identities of people
- Acts more crazily, irritable, or depressed than normal
But in time, these signs will grow more serious. Once the disease reaches its lasts, a person with Alzheimer's might lose all short-term and long-lasting memory, the capability to speak and to comprehend speech, and the ability to carry out even one of the most fundamental personal jobs, such as how to utilize the restroom or consume by themselves.
Ultimately, every person living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia will need encouraging care to guarantee their safety and wellness.
Live-in caretakers permit individuals with dementia or Alzheimer' disease to continue to live in the house throughout the course of their disease, rather than moving into an assisted living facility, memory care unit, or retirement home facility. For elderly people with Alzheimer's disease who wish to age in their homes, this can be hugely essential. Individuals with dementia in the early stages need less assistance to stay in their homes, however in the middle and late phases independence is sadly impossible. This is when live-in caretakers make all the distinction.
What Do Live-In Caregivers Do?
Live-in caregivers provide an option to property living. In mid-stage dementia, persons normally need some assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing, individual hygiene, and dressing, and important activities of day-to-day living (IADLs), like light house cleansing, laundry, and searching for groceries. In late-stage/ end-stage dementia, individuals need extensive assistance because mobility and speaking capability are ultimately lost entirely.
Other services live-in caretakers might provide consist of friendship, meal preparation and clean up, transportation to/ from physician's visits and social trips, medication management, payment of expenses, and keeping track of one's health as symptoms of dementia worsen.
There are likewise live-in caretakers that specialize in Alzheimer's and dementia care, in some cases referred to as memory caregivers. These caregivers have extremely particular training in order to comprehend how to approach and interact with individuals with dementia, how to manage particular habits frequently seen in persons with the disease, such as sundowning, roaming, and state of mind swings, and techniques to offer hands-on care while still enabling persons to preserve some autonomy (as long as they are able).
Benefits of Live-In Care
For individuals with dementia, and their households, there are many benefits to having a live-in caregiver:
Familiarity: Unfamiliar settings and routines can produce confusion, anxiety, fear, and stress for individuals with dementia. These emotions often result in disruptive behavior. With live-in caregivers, persons with dementia can continue to live in the house, or the home of a relative, and stay in a familiar location with the same day-to-day regimen.
Peace of Mind: Having a live-in caregiver offers family members comfort knowing their liked one with dementia is monitored and getting help from a professional. In other words, you understand your loved one is safe and that their needs are fulfilled.
Caretaker Relief: Live-in caretakers can also take the pressure off household caretakers, allowing them to work full-time and require time to effectively take care of themselves.
One-on-One Care: The person with dementia gets one-on-one care, which would not be possible in a residential facility, where staffing ratios are typically more like one staff member for every 5 or eight patients.
How Live-In Caregivers Differ From 24-Hour Care?
It is easy to be confused by live-in caregivers and 24-hour care. While the same services are typically supplied with both kinds of care, there are distinctions between them.
Live-in caregivers work 24-hours, however the caregiver has the ability to sleep throughout the night (the caregiver need to be provided with a place to sleep). He/ she likewise gets lunch breaks and individual breaks. With 24-hour care, shifts are usually 8 to 12 hours long and the caretaker does not sleep during his/ her shift. Said another way, guidance and help is offered 24-hours/ day. Generally, with 24-hour care, there is a minimum of 2 routine caregivers that supply look after the person with dementia.
With live-in caretakers, there is normally simply one caretaker. However, a 2nd caregiver might need to be hired, or good friends or family may have to action in and help provide care, if the individual with dementia can not be left unattended.
Live-in caretakers typically accept reduced settlement in exchange for room and board, while 24-hour home care workers would not.
Finding a Live-In Caregiver
Discovering live-in caregivers can be difficult. Numerous home care agencies do not personnel for live-in caretakers, and since of the shared residence, a caregiver and care recipient must have a good personality match. Home Helpers Home Care of Austin has actually partnered to supply a service that assists to match caretakers with care recipients for dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Questions to Ask
When speaking with live-in caretakers to find an excellent match, it's important that you have actually already drawn up the specific needs of your liked one, to be sure the individual you employ knows exactly what the task requires. Talk to the individual in your house, and make certain to inspect recommendations.
The following are a few questions to ask in the interview:
- Do you have experience dealing with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?
- What medical training have you had?
- Do you understand CPR and emergency treatment?
- Are there days or times you are NOT offered?
- Do you have recommendations?
- Do you have another specialist who can fill out if you are sick or away?
- How do you manage aggressive habits?