What is Personal Care at Home for Seniors?
September 11, 2024
Seniors who are living independently may need some support as they get older so that they continue living safely at home. Personal care at home is one type of specialized care that helps seniors with hygiene, getting dressed and other sensitive tasks.
Often seniors struggle to safely shower, brush their teeth, get dressed, or get in and out of bed safely as they get older. Poor grip strength, painful conditions like arthritis, poor balance, and even side effects from medication can make it difficult or impossible for seniors to safely attend to hygiene tasks.
The caregivers that provide personal care at home for seniors have experience and training specifically in how to help seniors shower safely, perform hygiene tasks, and get around the house without falling.
Personal care is different from other types of care because it doesn’t involve the same types of tasks that home care or other types of care do. Personal care at home includes things like:
Assisting with Bathing and Showering
Bathing or showering is one of the activities that are the most dangerous for seniors. There is a big risk of your mom or dad falling as they try to bathe or shower. Care providers help seniors with the entire bathing process, ensuring safety, comfort, and hygiene while maintaining their dignity.
With help from a care provider, your mom or dad can shower and wash their hair with a much lower risk of falling because they will have support from start to finish.
Oral Hygiene Care
Oral hygiene is very important for maintaining good health, but many seniors don’t brush their teeth every day the way that they should. Often it’s because they don’t have the grip strength to hold a toothbrush or floss, or they can’t maintain their balance standing at the sink.
A care provider can help your mom or dad with tasks like brushing their teeth, flossing, and cleaning their dentures to make sure that their teeth and gums are healthy.
Dressing Assistance
Getting dressed can be very difficult for seniors who have poor balance or don’t have the strength or dexterity to fasten buttons or zippers.
If your mom or dad has personal care at home their care provider can help them get dressed safely, including selecting appropriate clothing and assisting with the physical act of dressing.
Applying Compression Garments
Doctors often recommend that seniors wear compression garments, like compression socks or stockings, to help boost their circulation and keep blood clots from forming in the legs. But it can be very difficult to get those compression garments on. Seniors who don’t have great grip strength or dexterity may not be able to get them on at all.
Having a care provider help roll the stockings on can make sure that the compression is even on the leg to prevent more medical problems. Care providers can help seniors get those compression garments off at the end of the day too.