Skip to main content

Personal Assistance - Types of Care involved in it and Understanding it Better

"Home is where the heart is" goes the saying and this is more so for elders. Statistics reveal that 90% of the elders prefer to age in the comfort of their own home. In doing so, seniors have started to opt for assisted living and personal assistance services.

In England, nearly 65,000 disabled adults were employing 1,45,000 personal assistants in the year 2015. India too is experiencing a sudden boom in the need for senior caregiving services.

What are personal assistance services?
Elders want to enjoy the privacy and independence of their own home where they can be their own masters. Yet age does not permit them to do all the routine activities on their own. This is where they need elderly home care assistance.

Personal assistance services for the elderly include the following type of care or help in
    • Personal Care-  help in bathing, dressing, feeding, toileting
    • Home care- cleaning, cooking, laundry,  grocery shopping
  • Healthcare- giving medications on time, helping to walk or exercise.
 • Companionship- meaningful conversations, reading out newspapers and books, playing games, taking walks
   • Transportation- driving the elder around, shifting them from bed to chair etc.

Personal Assistance Services vs. Skilled Medical Caregivers or  Elderly Companions
Personal assistance for the elderly is a type of elderly home care assistance which requires non-medical help. It does not involve any medical assistance like treating or dressing wounds, administering injections or infusions or monitoring health parameters. Such clinical assistance is offered by Skilled Medical caregivers who are qualified nurses or attendants. In this sense, personal assistance services are not inclusive of such medical care but only offer domestic and grooming support.

Elderly companions, on the other hand, are like "paid friends" - they cook for you, run errands, walk or drive you around and give you company. But they do not perform any personal care like grooming or dressing. In this aspect, personal assistance services are different from elderly companions in that they also provide grooming or feeding services.
To sum up, holistic in-home healthcare for elders is offered by elderly personal assistants.

When to use elderly home care assistance?

Elderly home care assistance is a must for elders when
    1. Two elders are living together and neither can physically support the other.
    2. An elder is living amidst 2 working individuals and needs both company and support
    3. A single elder living all alone needs company and care.
    4. In a family, an infirm elder needs special care and attention.
    5. Elders do not like to be dependent on their children for their personal care.
    6. Some elders do not wish to have their privacy compromised even in the presence of their family members.
    7. Seniors are reluctant to shift from their home to another location.
    8. Elders who wish to live with dignity and independence throughout their life in the comfort of their own home.

Pointers for choosing elderly home care assistance 
 Choose elderly home care assistance keeping in mind the following facts.
    • Senior caregiving services must be provided by a reliable and reputed agency.
    • Choosing a personal caregiver of same cultural background is a must.
    • The personal care assistant's background must be verified with records.
    • The caregiver must be of sound mind and body.
  • The caregiver must be prepared to execute all the responsibilities entrusted with wholehearted consent.
    • Cleanliness must be ensured at all costs by the caregiver while taking care of the elderly.

Personal Assistance Services offer the right solution to care for elders who wish to stay in the comfort of their own home yet receive home care and individual help.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indian Budget Session and how it affects Senior Living

Budget 2019 was expected to bring in a slew of benefits for both seniors and healthcare in India. It did bring in a brief respite by increasing the income tax slab for seniors and pensioners.     How Indian budget 2019 benefits seniors?   Yes, senior citizens above 60 years with an income up to Rs 3,00,000 per annum will pay 0% income tax. Elders above 80 need not pay income tax up to Rs.5,00,000 income p.a. category. Senior citizens between 60-80 years should pay 5% tax if their income p.a. is between Rs. 3,00,000 to 5,00,000. This would accrue a savings of Rs. 2575/-. Super Seniors aged 80 and above will pay 5% income tax if their income is between Rs. 5,00,000 to 10,00,000. This will give them a sizeable savings of Rs.7,725/-.   Apart from this, the TDS limit has been increased for senior citizens from bank and post office deposits. The TDS threshold has been increased from Rs.10,000 to 40,000. This means even without submitting Form15G, sen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ayurvedic treatment for paralysis

Ayurveda is originated in India and it is the most popular holistic form of medicines that people trust rapidly. It is nothing but the herbal science. It is a combination of two Sanskrit words, ‘Ayur’ means life and ‘veda’ means knowledge so it means knowledge of life. By using Ayurvedic medicines, one can naturally get a cure for their diseases. Paralysis is a loss of muscles function which causes weakness on one side of the body. In Ayurveda, Paralysis is known as Pakshaghat that is associated with doshas of Pitta and Vatta. It is observed that at acute paralytic stage, the care is done in hospitals and once the patient is discharged, Ayurvedic treatment for paralysis should be initiated at the earliest. It has shown better results and speedy recovery of patients. Causes of Paralysis What causes paralysis? Stroke is the major cause of this problem. Other causes are trauma such as a broken or severed spinal cord, or direct trauma to a nerve and environmental factors ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Glaucoma in Seniors: Symptoms, treatments and Prevention

Glaucoma is an umbrella term used for a cluster of diseases that can damage your eye’s optic nerve. This damage can further lead to irreversible vision-related issues. In a few cases glaucoma can lead to total blindness.   Citing the Glaucoma week observed between 7th to 13th March, here is an attempt to shed more light on this blinding condition. Stay with us till the end of the blog as we give a complete round up of the glaucoma causes, glaucoma types, glaucoma treatment, best foods for eyesight and more.     What causes glaucoma?   The damage of the optic nerve. There are various types of glaucoma and all of them are linked to the damage of the optic nerve that connects and sends images to the brain. The aqueous humor, the eye fluid that is responsible to provide nutrition to the eyes and manages the eye pressure, flows through the mesh-like channel.   For unknown reasons this channel gets blocked or fails to pass the fluid as the eye starts producing more of...
Post a Comment
Read more