How to support ageing parents?

Fiercely Independent Parents

What do you do if your parents are fiercely independent and have told you they want to stay in their own home no matter what?

As an adult child you want to make sure your ageing parents are happy and safe at home. However, your personal circumstances might mean you can’t support them as much as you would like. Or you may live too far away to check in on them regularly.

Your mum or dad may be defensive every time you phone to ask if everything is ok. So how do you know when to step in and suggest extra support from a home care provider like Kingsway Care?

Preventing Hospital Stays

Clients or their relatives often call us when they are at crisis point. A loved one may have had a fall or illness and can’t be released from hospital unless a care plan is in place. Of course, Kingsway Care is experienced in providing emergency care. But we also know with a little extra support it’s possible to prevent the crisis happening in the first place.

How can Kingsway Care help?

Our goal is to support Clients to keep them happy, healthy and safe at home whilst still allowing them to be in control of their daily routine. We give Clients enough support and encouragement so that they can remain fiercely independent in their own home.

Boosting & Monitoring Client’s Well-being

During care visits there are several important tasks our outstanding team of CareGivers can do to help boost and monitor the Client’s well-being. Early intervention can prevent hospital stays. All of our CareGivers are trained to look for any change in the Client’s behaviour or well-being so that issues can be addressed swiftly.

Some of our CareGivers love to cook and many Clients have enjoyed a surprise Sunday roast or freshly baked cake.

Food shopping & meal preparation

Buying and preparing food may not be as easy if your parent has mobility issues or has given up driving. Together with a loss of smell and appetite, they could end up eating food past its sell by date or not eating enough. A little support with food shopping and meal preparation can keep your mum or dad healthy and well nourished.

Our CareGivers can also check to see if any other support around the house is required. For example, we do check fridges and cupboards for out of date food and ask the Client if we can throw the items away. Last week we removed a packet of jelly from 1985, the price on the packet was 15p!

Administer medication and creams

Our CareGivers can make sure Clients are taking the correct medications at the right time. They can also apply creams and eye drops when necessary and monitor skin conditions. In addition, we do weekly audits on medication and can co-ordinate the pick up of repeat prescriptions and even call their GP if we notice any deterioration in health. All of these actions help prevent hospital treatment.

Staying hydrated

Staying hydrated is particularly important to avoid urinary tract infections (UTIs) in older people. Our CareGivers will make sure Clients have enough hot or cold drinks during visits and raise concern if there are signs of dehydration, for example, dark coloured or foul-smelling urine. Early detection can be treated with antibiotics rather than hospital treatment.

Personal hygiene

Clients may need help getting up (which could involve hoisting), washing and getting dressed. Our CareGivers morning and evening visits are popular with Clients as they know our CareGivers will arrive on time. Clients can plan their day without worrying how long they will have to lie in bed or sit in a chair until their CareGiver comes to help.

Companionship

Loneliness and isolation have been shown to increase in later years and can lead to depression. The Kingsway Care team are encouraged to bring fun and imagination to care visits and spend quality time with each Client. If physically able, we love to take Kingsway Care Clients out and about to enjoy the vibrant community we live in. We treat Kingsway Care Clients as if they are our mum or dad.

Staying in Touch

Real-time updates for relatives after every care visit via the OpenPass app.

“We went for a walk on Hove seafront then prepared some lunch. I picked up the repeat prescription.”

The OpenPass App

Imagine if when you phoned your mum or dad you could spend time talking about things other than their health?

All Kingsway Care Clients have their care notes recorded on the secure OpenPass App. You can check real time updates after every care visit from wherever you are in the world. You can even send messages directly to their CareGiver to request a favourite meal or ask a specific question about their well-being.