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More seniors opt to age at home rather than in a nursing home or assisted living facility than ever before. Instead, they choose to receive care or support with daily activities in the privacy of their own homes. Even if they are mentally and physically fit, seniors remain vulnerable to elder abuse. Because elder abuse can take many various forms, it might be challenging to detect in some cases.

What Is Senior Abuse and How Can It Be Prevented?

Elder abuse can take numerous forms, but the most common ones entail scaring, humiliating, ridiculing, or intimidating a senior. For example, if a caretaker ignores a senior or fails to meet their requirements, elder abuse is considered. In addition, financial exploitation may be a form of abuse in specific situations. Thus, understanding elder abuse can assist you in recognizing and intervening in potentially dangerous circumstances.

Elder abuse isn’t the only concern that elders may encounter as they get older. Living alone at home in your elderly years can come with its own set of difficulties. Allow at-home caregivers to assist your senior loved one in maintaining a greater quality of life while coping with illness and doing daily duties.

Be Cautious Of The Red Flags

Being informed is one of the most important methods to prevent senior abuse. Physical signs of elder abuse include bruises, scars, scrapes, dislocations, or fractured bones, as well as incorrect drug administration. Weight loss, dehydration, insects, and dirty surroundings are all symptoms of your mistreated loved ones. Sudden changes in wills, duplicate billings, unpaid bills, missing cash or commodities, or unexplained withdrawals from accounts are all signs that a senior is being financially exploited.

Spend Time Together

You must spend time with your loved one to detect indicators of possible abuse. Instead of making hasty visits, take the time to sit down and talk with your loved one. Discuss your loved one’s health and bills throughout your talks, and you can also inquire about friends and other caregivers. Setting aside a few hours to keep the company of your loved ones while managing their daily routine may also be beneficial. Make sure your visits involve time between the two of you since your loved one may be too afraid to speak out about the abuse if they are in the presence of others.

Encourage People To Get Their Health Checked Regularly.

Many people mistake signals of elder abuse for dementia or other health problems. Because it causes behaviour changes, injuries, and other concerns common among elders, elder abuse frequently resembles these signs. It’s critical to ensure that your loved one sees a doctor if they have a health problem. Obtain healthcare power of attorney for your loved one if at all possible. The doctor will be able to communicate information with you through a power of attorney, allowing you to check that your loved one’s health difficulties aren’t the result of abuse.

Consider Hiring Senior Care Provider Agency

Caring for a senior relative can be a difficult task. If your caregiving responsibilities become too much for you, consider hiring a home health care agency that can assist you in providing the right caregiver for your senior. They perform a background check of a caregiver, assuring a clear criminal record and no issues would happen in future. They train the caregivers and usually assure safe interactions with the clients. Also, some of the care agencies stay on the top to make sure their caregivers are maintaining the standards by giving surprise visits and taking regular reports. They can also assist you in reducing your claim exposure. If your agency lacks the infrastructure or tools needed to adopt these procedures, you might be surprised to learn that your insurance provider may be able to assist.

So whether you need a break from your caring responsibilities or your elderly loved one requires home care, VCare247 in Toronto, Ontario, can help. Our professional caregivers are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide transportation to doctor’s appointments, monitor seniors’ medication compliance, and assist with various duties both inside and outside the home.

Most people prefer to recover at home after being admitted to the hospital. Similarly, rather than going to a skilled nursing facility, the elderly choose to stay at home. 

Home health care can help with several daily life activities, such as cooking, cleaning, and even bathing. Here are the top reasons why you should go for in-home care that you may not be aware of before:

Hospital readmissions can be reduced with home care.

Suppose you or your loved ones have had surgery or been admitted to the hospital for a medical condition. In that case, you may be concerned about safety at home, specifically the risk of falling. Despite efforts to avoid them, falls and accompanying injuries are all too common in hospitals. A growing body of evidence suggests that an elderly or ill person is less likely to be exposed to a major incident at home than in an intensive care setting. Home care can also lower the incidence of readmission to the hospital.

Peace of mind

Loneliness and depression are common sentiments among the elderly. This is related to isolation, as those living with them cannot consistently take care or offer time to their seniors due to full-time employment and, more than likely, have children who demand required care and attention. Here is when Personal support workers and nurses come to the rescue as they are trained to deal with such situations.

Home Care Physical and Occupational Therapy

You don’t need to go to a rehabilitation facility if you’ve undergone surgery and require physical or occupational therapy. Personal Support Workers Agencies can deliver physical therapy services to your house in most communities. Another advantage of at-home therapy is the ability to evaluate the home environment for safety and accessibility. The trained eyes of a therapist can notice fall hazards or restroom problems and offer helpful preventive suggestions.

Home Health Care Helps in Adapting To Changing Needs

Suppose you or a loved one is approaching retirement age and is worried about the feasibility of staying at home indefinitely. In that case, you can hire an expert to visit your home and analyze the situation. A trained senior care professional can offer valuable suggestions on modifying a living area to make it more accessible and safe for a senior person over time.

Personal Care

Perhaps your greatest concern is that you or a loved one would be unable to cook, clean, or perform other basic everyday tasks due to their age or any specific medical condition. Many organizations employ home health aides who can assist you or a family member with cooking, cleaning, and even bathing. A home care plan is tailored to your family’s needs rather than conforming to the schedules and routines of a care facility. Whether your loved one merely wants assistance for a few hours a day or requires full-time live-in care, home care is adaptable to each client’s needs.

Allow Yourself Some Time To Relax

It takes a lot of time and effort to care for a family member. In the past, the only way to get rid of these burdens was to admit sick or elderly family members to the hospital. However, your loved one can now stay at home with a certified caregiver with at-home respite care. There are several methods available today to assist you in paying for a respite care provider. Home care is safe and effective, and it can help you avoid admitting to the hospital or a nursing home. 

If you or a loved one is contemplating in-home care as part of a plan to age in place, contact VCare247, an efficient PSW agency, today for a free consultation. Our team is committed to assisting your family and ensuring that older individuals can continue living in their own homes for as long as possible.

Nothing is more important than your loved one’s health, happiness, and well-being. So, when you’re looking for a caregiver, you want to make sure you hire the best one. You would like someone who gets along and performs a good job caring and completing other necessary tasks. However, hiring a caregiver is easier said than done, especially if you’ve never done so before.

To assist you in finding someone you can rely on, we’ve put together a list of 7 top steps that will guide you through the entire process:

Evaluate Your Specific Needs

Every individual has distinct requirements. What is it that your loved one requires assistance with? Some folks choose a partner who can also assist with housekeeping. Others need assistance with complicated medical devices from a caregiver.

If you require assistance with a difficult medical situation, ensure that the caregiver is licenced and insured. If you need someone who can cook, make sure they know the difference between healthy cooking and unhealthy cooking. Determine whether you require 24 hours assistance or a home-care companion for a few hours each day. Make a list of your needs, such as dealing with medications, meal preparation, social interactions.

Draft A Detailed Job Description

It’s critical to write a clear job description if you want to locate eager individuals capable of taking care. You should customize it to meet the demands of your loved one, your budget, and the senior’s personality and preferences, including all of the duties you anticipate them to complete. Mentally walking through a complete week of treatment, hour by hour, may be beneficial.

Make a list of characteristics you’re looking for in a caregiver. 

If you’re looking for someone with a specific education level, skill set, certifications, licences, or physical abilities, mention all of them in the description.

Evaluate Your Budget

Caring for a senior person can be expensive. So it’s wise to assess your budget early on to be surprised by the expenditures afterward.

Consider assistance programmes that either support healthcare or aid elders in saving money on a lot of things. This can free up funds that can be used to cover the expense of in-home care.

Another crucial consideration when budgeting is the length of time you plan to require in-home care. The more time a person needs (or is expected to need) home care, the more resources become accessible to them. Determine whether you will hire the senior caregiver for a short or extended period.

Choose Between Senior Care Home & In-Home Care

Choosing between in-home care and a nursing facility is not a simple decision. Ageing in place is one option for keeping your loved one more self-sufficient. Living in their own space, which holds so many beautiful memories, might help them feel more in control and at ease. On the other hand, moving to a different facility can be unsettling and even terrifying.

Discuss Personality Preferences

A healthy and open relationship with the caregiver is essential. Also, a skilled caregiver should be communicative, compassionate, intelligent, hard-working, and respectful.

Many senior people prefer caregivers of the same gender, ethnicity, religion, and country of origin. Examine the scenario and see if anyone can meet all or most of the needed requirements. Such as if the senior is comfortable speaking a particular language, choose the caregiver who speaks that language.

Make sure the caregiver you employ is a good fit for your elderly’s personality. For example, do you want someone who is gregarious and talkative or someone calmer and softer? When researching different caregivers, notice their personality, character, and any special needs the senior may have, and you believe the caregiver can fulfill.

Create A Backup Plan

Your caregiver will likely be unable to come to work at times, whether due to personal reasons, appointments, illness, or injury. Make a backup plan in case something goes wrong. When is each person available? Who lives in the area? Have you got a backup aide? Discuss this backup plan with your family and agree on who will be responsible if the circumstance arises. You’ll avoid last-minute panic and frantic schedule juggling to ensure your ageing loved one is appropriately cared for in this manner.

Background Check Is A Must

Even if the person you interviewed seems amazing, you should run a background check and contact all of their references. Inquire about the candidate’s performance on the job, whether they would hire them again, and if they would recommend them for your position. Because elderly folks are more vulnerable to deception or abuse, it’s a good idea to search for a criminal record in any state where the person has lived or worked earlier.

If you’re still uncertain, contact VCare247, and we’ll assist you to find the perfect caregiver match!