In-Home Care: When It’s Time to Find Help in Westchester County

At some point in life, you may be faced with the challenge of providing care for a parent, spouse, or close friend. The active, self-sufficient person you knew for many years may slowly begin requiring additional help or eventually one-to-one care. Often changes happen gradually making it difficult to discern when and how much help they need.

How do you know when the time is right to engage in-home care?

Signs Your Loved One May Need In-Home Care

The best way to discover if changes are happening is by getting some perspective. It’s best to rely on the person closest to them to provide much needed and personal insight. You’ll also want the opinion of someone who has not seen your loved one in a while. Both vantage points will provide valuable assessments.

Consider these warning signs in your loved one’s physical and mental status:

• Wearing the same soiled clothes on consecutive days

• Decline in personal grooming habits

• Home is no longer as clean and tidy as it once was• Forgetfulness about medications

• Clutter from newspapers and other items create unsafe obstacles

• An empty refrigerator and inconsistent meals

• A once vivacious person becomes less outgoing

• Bruises from a fall or from bumping into a piece of furniture

• Weight loss

The signs may be subtle at first but can develop into the inability to manage familiar tasks.

Unfortunately, as many seniors begin to realize their newly found limitations, they can become depressed and start to isolate themselves. Living a long life is a blessing, but it can be challenging for some to adjust.

How to Get the In-Home Care Help You Need

For many families, a discussion about getting home care services can be a challenging series of conversations. Your best ally is your tone. Condescending or authoritative attitudes can put a senior on the defense. As adults, this is a problem to solve together.

Start by telling them you want to share things on your mind and then gently phrase your observations. You should also ask them if they see the same things. If they do, then you can ask their opinion about a solution. If they don’t see what you’re seeing, then you will have to detail some specific examples.

Proceed cautiously. You can explain that in-home care will offer the best of both worlds. They’ll be able to remain happily and safely in their own home with one-to-one care from a trusted resource, like Visiting Angels®.

You can also let them know that having a kind, in-home caregiver to assist with some tasks of daily living will give both of you more time to do other things together. It will, therefore, serve as a mutually beneficial decision.

Ideally, you will conclude together without having to defer to someone outside the family, like a physician. Emphasize that all you want is for them to be safe and happy and to live their best life.

We offer a free, no-obligation care assessment to help you get started with us. This initial meeting will allow us to learn more about your loved one's unique situation and discuss how our services can help.

Some of the questions to consider before the in-home consultation include:

• What type of care is needed?

• Is the need long-term or just help while recovering from an injury or hospital stay?

• Do they need medical care or help with everyday errands, hygiene and home care issues?

You should also be prepared to review medication schedules, interactions, daily routines, and appointments.

Call Visiting Angels White Plains today at (914) 696-4200 for more information about our in home care in Westchester County, NY.