Caregiving is more than the act of helping your loved ones in their daily tasks as they age or experience debilitating effects due to certain health conditions or diseases. While many seniors rely on their friends or family members for assistance, there come several instances when seniors need hired help for short-term or long-term care. This is where caregiving services come to your rescue. A professional caregiver is a perfect solution for all those challenges that you might be facing while taking care of your aging parents.

Before hiring a caregiver, you might want to know what caregiving exactly means, what kind of help caregiving includes, and what duties and responsibilities caregivers are entitled to. This guide will answer to these basic caregiving-related questions.

What is caregiving?

Caregiving, typically, involves providing care for the physical, as well as emotional needs of the elderly or a person who is physically challenged/not well and needs additional assistance.

What do caregivers help with?

The role of a caregiver varies and eventually evolves as they gradually recognize the needs of a care recipient. The kind of help a caregiver can provide typically depends on the level of motility of the elderly, mental health condition, and tasks they need assistance with.

In general, caregivers help the elderly to take showers, get dressed, buy groceries, clean the house, do laundry, go on a stroll, ensure personal hygiene, arrange transport for appointments, and so on. If the elderly needs help with medications or may need medical care/first aid anytime, you should look only for a licensed caregiver who is qualified to provide medical help.

What are the duties and responsibilities of a caregiver?

The duties and responsibilities of a caregiver are diverse and they may change as the needs of the elderly change. Nonetheless, one can say that some or all of the caregiving assistance mentioned below is provided by caregivers at some point in their care routine. 

Duties and Responsibilities of a Caregiver

1.    Planning for healthcare and home management

It might be confusing to know how much help you can ask from a caregiver. The best way to eliminate this dilemma is to create a plan for managing home and healthcare for the elderly. The plan should be created under the guidance of the medical team, family members, and the caregiver. This plan will also act as a foundation for setting the budget and timing for caregiving. Make sure that the plan is revised as the caregiving needs to change or evolve over time.  

2.    Ensuring proper medical care

Even though you will have physicians and doctors for overseeing the medical needs of your aging parent, you still need assistance to ensure that the elderly attend the medical appointments on time, and if any health issues arise, they are addressed instantly. Besides, a caregiver may also be responsible for overlooking the health insurance paperwork and organizing required bills, prescriptions, statements, and doctor instructions to ensure that the senior person is receiving medical care as per their healthcare plan and not being taken advantage of with overcharged services.

3.    Managing prescription medication

As the elderly age, it is likely that the number of medications also increases. So does the degree of help the elderly need for taking medications, refilling the bottles, and ordering the ones that have been finished. The medications meant for pain management are at risk of theft, and therefore, they need to be stored in a safe place. All of this comes under the duties of a licensed caregiver.

4.    Assisting with personal care and hygiene

It is common for the elderly to have difficulty with activities of daily living. A good and kind-hearted caregiver does not hesitate to assist with more intimate tasks of daily life, such as taking a bath, using a toilet, cleaning up when they get sick, and so on. 

5.    Handling grocery shopping and food nutrition

With the increasing age, the appetite of senior people starts diminishing. Thus, a caregiver can make sure that your elderly loved one is getting proper nutrition and which food must be avoided (as suggested by their health practitioner). This also involves buying groceries, planning a balanced diet under the guidance of the doctor or food nutritionist, and preparing food.

6.    Providing emotional support and companionship

It can be easy for the elderly to feel lonely and depressed when there is no one around to talk to or share their feelings with. At such times, a caregiver can be the one who can fulfill this need and provide them companionship and moral support.   

7.    Arranging transport and helping with motility issues

If the elderly person uses a wheelchair to move around, they need more care and assistance while going to the toilet, outside, or move around within the house. Besides, they might also need help with getting into a vehicle from their wheelchair when going for appointments, going to the library, or attending some event. A caregiver helps them by ensuring safe movement both outside and inside the home and arranging the right transport vehicle as well.

8.    General housekeeping and minor maintenance

A good caregiver is also expected to have basic cleaning and repairing skills. They can help with cleaning dishes, making the bed, and keeping the place tidy. Besides, they should be able to help with small maintenance tasks, such as replacing the bulb.

9.    Helping with the financial transaction if needed

If the aging person often needs help with paying bills and making payments, you can expect a caregiver to offer assistance. However, in this case, you must choose a caregiver only after a rigorous background check as the person should be trustworthy.

10. Health monitoring and reporting

A qualified caregiver is aware of the signs that can be life-threatening for the person they are hired for. Whether it is a problem related to physical health, mental health, or simply mood changes, they can notice such things, record them, and report them whenever necessary. Besides, they can also make recommendations for additional care or medical help that your elderly might need.

11. Finding the right help after due diligence

No matter if the elderly wish to meet someone or need to hire a Caregiver Service Provider for home-related services, a caregiver can arrange a private place for personal visits and help them find the right help after due diligence.

This list of duties and responsibilities of a caregiver is not comprehensive. It can shrink or grow based on what kind of assistance and support the care recipient needs. Thus, you will need to find a professional caregiver who is qualified for the kind of work you expect them to do and with whom the elderly feel compatible as well.