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5 Signs You Need to Consider Home Health Care for Your Loved One

Home health care can be very beneficial for your loved one, but how do you decide when it’s time to give a home health provider a call?  Many factors can affect your decision, but what it really boils down to is: are your loved one’s health risks too much to handle for you or for them to remain independent in their home? It’s hard to admit when you need help in any situation, but sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed to improve their quality of life in the long run.  Home health is a great resource to help patients after a recent hospital discharge or in recovery from a surgery, but what about some of the less obvious symptoms that home health could help with? Here are five signs that help determine whether you should give a home health provider a call.

New Prescriptions or Change in Medications

Medications can become confusing, especially if your loved one is assigned to take more than one.  In fact, on average, people over the age of 65 fill 14 prescriptions per year.  That’s a lot of pills to keep track of. To add to that fact, errors in medication often occur during a care transition, such as after time spent in the hospital. Residential’s nurses are trained in medication reconciliation and will work with you to ensure you are on the right track with your daily medication intake.

Fear of Falling, or One or More Recent Falls

Falling is one of the top reasons for hospitalization of the elderly, and in fact, the fear of falling is a main contributor to increasing your fall risk.  Of course, we want to remain independent in our homes as long as possible, but sometimes trouble with balance and fall risks that come with age is inevitable. As a caregiver, it can be hard to determine exercises that will benefit your loved one. Residential’s physical therapists are able to create an exercise strategy that targets the health problems that affect balance head on, while showing you strategies to conquer any fears associated with falling.

Pain or Reduced Mobility Interfering with Everyday Activities

As your loved one ages or as an illness progresses, everyday activities such laundry and cooking can become increasingly difficult to handle independently due to chronic pain or increased fall risk.  While Residential’s trained clinicians can’t do these activities for you, physical and occupation therapists can work with your loved one to improve their strength and mobility while managing any pain or symptoms so they can be more confident in performing these tasks independently.

Memory Problems or Behavior Changes

Dementia in elders is incredibly common, and along with it can come confusion, irritability, and frustrations.  Residential’s MINDCARE program focuses on patients with memory conditions aiming to increase the patient’s participation in everyday activities while reducing caregiver stress.  Through the program, clinicians work with you and your loved one on communication, independence, and safety in the home so that you, as the caregiver, can have some peace of mind.

Unstable Vital Signs or Need for Daily Monitoring

If your loved one suffers from a chronic condition, it is important to stay on top of it and monitor the condition daily.  Residential’s Telehealth gives you a direct line to nurses who work to provide daily support and regular communication for patients with conditions such as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

It can be difficult to determine when you need help, but Residential’s Home Health professionals are trained to provide expert services to your loved one and make your life easier as a caregiver.  Call 866-902-4000 today to speak with a Home Care Specialist about our home health care services.

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