Your parents living in their home as long as possible is your priority. However, the aging process might make it hard over time. Tasks such as grocery shopping and meal preparation often require more assistance from you. You might be having other responsibilities like your career and taking care of your children or living far from your parents. That is where Mom's Home Care comes in. We can assist you in prolonging independent living. With our services, our caregivers try to uphold a level of respect and personal dignity for our clients. To see how we can help you or your aged relative, read on the list of our wide range of services in Los Feliz.
What are the Different Services We Offer?
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Fall Prevention
Falls among the elderly are relatively common and can result in severe injuries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2,500,000 persons above 65 years receive treatment for fall injuries annually in the U.S. Additionally, approximately 3,000,000 senior citizens go to the emergency room due to injuries caused by falls.
A fall can lead to injuries like head trauma, broken arms, wrists, ankles, and hips.
Even if you fall with no hurt, you could be afraid of falling and, as a result, decreasing participation in essential activities like going out with your loved ones, walking, and exercising. The decrease in these activities can result in muscle weakness hence an increased risk of falling.
To prevent your elderly parent from suffering these effects, here are lifestyle changes your living-in caregiver can make:
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Ensuring you are physically active- You should engage in regular everyday exercise that suits your physical condition. Exercising not only builds your muscle strength but also boosts flexibility. To keep your muscles conditioned, your caregiver will ensure you engage in aerobic activities like weight-bearing activities and walking
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Maintaining a healthy weight- Just like most elderly adults, you will find your appetite decreasing and become underweight hence weakening your bones. Your caregiver will ensure you consume a healthy diet that contains a lot of calcium and vitamin D
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Quit smoking- Smoking leads to rapid loss of bone mass. Any experienced caregiver should encourage you to stop smoking as a way of protecting your bones.
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Stay hydrated- Dehydration can make you feel dizzy and weak. Therefore, you should take a lot of fluids in soups, fruits, and beverages
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Get adequate sleep- Sleep deprivation can increase the risk of falling. If you are facing challenges getting sleep, you need to speak with your caregiver
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Respite Care
Respite care offers relief to the caregiver. Your elderly parent may be entirely reliant on you, or it could be a minor amount of care like assisting around your home. In both situations, you get tired, and you may need to have some time for yourself. That is where respite caregivers come in.
Respite care is flexible, and it offers care tailored to your situation. That means you can decide when to use the service, the type of service, and how much assistance you need. For instance, if you are taking care of your mother, and you need to go for a vacation, a respite caregiver can step in and offer care while you are away.
A respite caregiver can offer personal care services like assistance with grooming, dressing, toileting, bathing, and feeding. Moreover, they can offer services around your home, like cleaning up, shopping, washing clothes, and preparing meals.
Another essential service provided is one-on-one care and attention. It can be speaking to your loved one or playing games with them.
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Companionship
As human beings get older, they experience circumstances that might result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. It could be because their children have grown and moved out, their friends and spouse have died, or their mobility is limited. However, they can continue living in their home without resigning to isolation with the help of a caregiver.
One of the benefits of companionship is that it boosts the elderly's quality of life. It goes beyond caregiving. As far as the social aspect is concerned, it enables your elderly parents to speak about their challenges, find solutions, and express grief.
On a personal level, a competent caregiver is one that your senior parent can trust and rely on. Senior people worry more about tasks that you find simple like shopping. Companionship gets rid of the burden.
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Medication Reminder
Apart from offering assistance with everyday tasks, your in-home care expert can handle your aged parent's well-being and medication. If your parent takes medication every day, the odds are they are not the medication as prescribed by the doctor. This puts them at increased risk for overdose and side effects. An experienced caregiver in Los Feliz will head up each facet of the elderly person's medicine consumption to make sure:
They are Taking the Right Dosage
Most seniors may not know that they are taking their medication wrongly. It could be because they cannot recall if or when a given dose was consumed. A living-in caregiver can stop this from taking place by functioning as a memory aid. The care specialist can also offer a chart or medication dispenser that makes sure the right amount of medication is taken at the right time.
Proper Consumption
Most drugs come with limitations and instructions. To ensure all instructions are followed, the caregiver will review the instructions and then make sure all drugs are well-administered.
Communication with Your doctor
It is essential that your living-in expert attends your loved one's medical appointments and talk with the physician. The care expert will pay attention to all medication changes and implement them. If they have noticed issues with the dosage or medication, they can tell the doctor during the appointment.
Proper drugs storage
While some drugs ought to be stored in a cabinet, it is acceptable to keep others in a refrigerator. If not well stored, these drugs could expire or be inefficient. Any competent caregiver understands the value of storing drugs properly. Moreover, they can check if the drugs have a weird smell or have discolored before administering them.
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Meal Preparation
Meal preparation, as well as consuming healthy food, is an essential aspect of living well, particularly for the elderly. However, it is hard for most seniors living alone to keep track of what, when, and how to eat, not forgetting preparing the meal, cooking it, and then doing the dishes.
Meal preparation assistance for your aged parent goes beyond cooking. It involves:
Meal Planning
While planning one meal could be a demanding task, planning your meals for the week might look impossible. However, doing so is paramount to having a balanced diet, which will offer the strength required to live healthily.
Your caregiver can take food inventory and generate shopping menus or lists that are familiar and healthy. They will also work with you to meet your doctor or nutritionist's recommendations and design meals to your medical conditions like hypertension and diabetes.
Shopping for Groceries
Meal preparation isn't just knowing what you need and have, but it also involves how you'll get it. A living-in care provider can go with you to the store and assist with the shopping. If you cannot make it to the store, they will handle the shopping needs for you.
Cook Meals
Cooking can be overwhelming if you have mobility challenges. The caregiver can provide assistance and supervision or even prepare your meals.
Clean Up
Nobody loves doing dishes especially if they have difficulties in mobility. Any qualified caregiver in Los Feliz should be able to clean up after the meal and ensure you are full without worrying about the mess.
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Light Housekeeping
Your mood is a reflection of the environment you are living in. That means a healthy environment will result in a healthy body, soul, and mind. Light housekeeping could be becoming increasingly difficult as you age, leaving your house more susceptible to neglect. When the house isn't properly cleaned, you are more prone to illness and injuries.
The home care specialists at Mom's Home Care can offer you an environment in which you are comfortable living in, instead of moving to an assisted living home. We can offer the following services:
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Cleaning the kitchen- The caregivers will disinfect counters, sweep and mop floors, wash dishes, discard stale foods, and empty trash bins. Keeping your cupboards and refrigerators free from spoiled and expired foods will prevent diseases.
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Clean your bathroom- A bathroom is a space where you clean yourself. Ensuring the area is clean and disinfected will assist in living a healthy life. Your care expert can disinfect your washroom, including the toilet, shower, and sinks. They can also organize your washcloths and towels as well as empty trash bins.
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Clean your living room and bedroom- There isn't a better feeling than relaxing in a dust-free living room. Or sleeping on a bed with clean sheets. Your competent caregiver can assist you with dusting and vacuuming, organizing closets, making your bed, emptying trash bins, and changing bed linens.
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Dementia Care
Any qualified in-home caregiver in Los Feliz understands the struggle a family undergoes when taking care of a parent with dementia. As a result, the specialist can use an interactive caregiving approach. That way, the caregiver gets to know your loved one on a personal level, learn their past experiences, likes, and dislikes.
With the developed relationship, the care provider can schedule activities that might assist your parents in simulating physical and mental activities. The living in care expert and your loved one can also:
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Read your parent's favorite book
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Engage in a memory exercise, such as looking at family photographs
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Discussing contemporary events
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Listening to music
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Assistance with Daily Living
Taking care of an aged parent at home is a selfless act where you want them to stay in your home for long. In a perfect world, you might want to be there all day and ensure everything runs smoothly. Nevertheless, balancing their personal care needs and schedule with your responsibilities might be overwhelming. That is where a living-in care expert in Los Feliz comes in.
A professional caregiver will help with:
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Grooming and hygiene guidance – A caregiver can assist you with your personal care routines so that you can feel and look your best both in and out of your home. According to studies, an aged person's emotional fitness and self-esteem have to do with grooming and regular hygiene. Your caregiver should be able to help you if you have mobility limitations that make bathing hard or fear falling while taking a shower. They can also help you with shaving, shampooing, hair combining, and hairstyling.
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Incontinence and toileting care- A skilled in-home caregiver understands how sensitive incontinence and toileting care is. Without proper assistance, you can face numerous problems like unpleasant odors, skin infections, and general hygiene challenges.
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Transferring and Positioning- This could consist of getting in and out of your chair, wheelchair, and bed. When correctly done, transferring and positioning can lower bed sore risk, the danger of sustaining injuries and falls, and muscle atrophy. Moreover, it boosts digestion and breathing hence keeping you as comfortable as possible.
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Errands and Transportation
Going out and about has several mental and physical benefits across all ages. The fact that you have given up your car keys does not mean you have lost your wheel of independence. And since you have a lot of time on your hands, a caregiver can help you:
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Attend out-patient care
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Go to your medical appointment
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Go to the grocery to restock crucial items
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Visit your loved ones
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Attend public events such as volunteer events or church services
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Go to the beauty salon or barbershop
Find a Reliable In-home Caregiver Near Me
You have your daily living activities under control and have effectively managed them for years. Nevertheless, it's when you start losing control of these functions that your life becomes hard. The dread of losing your independence set in while a loved one is providing the support around a busy schedule. Often, this results in hostility and turmoil. Fortunately, hiring an experienced in-home caregiver can be a solution. The care providers at Mom's Home Care can offer you the assurance and peace you require and allow you to age gracefully. To learn more about our services, call us at 323-244-4789. We will immediately schedule an in-home assessment to discuss your needs.