Welcome to the second installment of this mini-series here on the blog, where I’m talking about safety. Today’s topic is how the presence of caregivers makes older adults safer in their homes. One might think that only live-in caregivers provide such safety benefits, but trust me, that is not the case.
Monitoring
One of the basic safety benefits of caregivers is that they are regularly visiting their clients usually a few times a week, so if something does happen, they will be able to alert us. As mentioned in this last post, every clients’ home goes through a safety check. Caregivers will be aware of risks in the home (like rugs that are not pinned down).
Training
Our caregivers go through training so that they know what to do in various situations. This means they are equipped to keep you safe, especially from very common fall risk situations. This may seem like a trivial thing. As I will address in a later post, falls can be a big deal for older adults. They are serious health risks for older adults, but that’s for another day. They are also able to point out anything potentially dangerous, and can make changes if you agree to it (for example if an oxygen tank is being kept somewhere dangerous, they can mention that to you).
Hands-On Assistance
Caregivers are able give you hands-on assistance on tasks like transferring from sitting to standing, or from a walker to a wheelchair, or getting in and out of the shower. Our caregivers only do these tasks for people who need assistance. If they were to do those tasks without any assistance, they may injure themselves. Having someone to assist them is a huge safety asset.
In conclusion, caregivers make our clients safer in many ways, and I look forward to continuing to discuss the important topic of safety for seniors.
