5 Things Every Live-In Caregiver Needs To Do

5 Things Every Live-In Caregiver Needs To Do

Live-in care for older people has become a popular service, which more and more people are resorting to. They find extra help from professionals to be invaluable when it comes to meeting the personalised needs of their ageing loved ones.

The backbone of the service are the people responsible for caring and delivering help to the client. Caregivers need to be many things, to stay ahead of all the challenges that such a job brings forth. In this guide, we will share a few essentials things that each caregiver needs to do, to boost live-in care service: 

They have to learn patience – people of old age do things at a different pace.

Things that are normally trivial for others might take them more time, or they might not even understand them well anymore. For this reason, caregivers need to be patient. They may need to slow down to match the pace of the older person or explain things several times. This is very important when dealing with ageing individuals who are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Patience is crucial for maintaining a good relationship with the person being taken care of.

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They need to have empathy – empathy is the most important ingredient for any caregiver. Without it, they will hardly find the motivation to keep what

they are doing for a long time. According to experts, only people capable of great compassion and showing understanding of others can become the best caregivers. Empathy means putting yourself into the shoes of the other person and seeing from their perspective. It allows individuals to objectively gauge one’s feelings and thus be able to help them in the most efficient manner possible. No wonder why such quality is so highly-sought after in the care service industry. 

They should have some medical proficiency – sometimes, care services are all about mundane things. Doing some cleaning in the home, helping the ageing individual get about, being a company for them, etc. But sometimes, ageing individuals have certain medical needs. That is not to say caregivers should be doctors, but having some medical proficiency doesn’t hurt. For example, they may need to manage the elder’s medical equipment or ensure they take the right medicine on time. They may also have to stay alert in case the ageing individual shows new symptoms or their current symptoms worsen. Such knowledge is helpful and getting some training on it is a plus.

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They should always seek feedback – getting feedback from the old person’s loved ones is essential, especially since the nature of live-in care service is to adapt to constantly changing needs. Without some feedback from the other side, live-in caregivers will not be able to provide adequate service. That is why they should be in constant communication with their client, to adjust and change the service to better fit the requirements.

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Become better communicators – communication is an important aspect of live-in care service. Proper communication with the ageing individual makes all the difference. That is why caregivers should learn to be better communicators and listen to others. They must know how to diffuse an argument before it even starts and remove themselves from a situation that is not ideal until the other person has calmed down.

These are all essential things that every live-in caregiver needs to do, to become a better communicator. There is no denying that they can greatly boost the service. © Home Care Preferred