Bringing a new caregiver into your home is a big decision—one that can greatly impact your loved one’s well-being and quality of life. If you are looking to hire a new at home caregiver, here is our ultimate caregiver tips to ensure your loved one is in good hands.
Be Consistent
Consistency and structure are the keys to making sure your loved one receives the care they deserve. Whether you’re looking for a caregiver or you currently have a caregiver, this is one of the most important takeaways from our ultimate caregiver tips you should consider making a priority.
Keeping things consistent is super helpful for older adults, especially if they are cognitively impaired or have short term memory loss. It’s as simple as writing down the best times for needed activities to occur. Leaving a list of things to be done regularly, maintains consistency for your loved one, while at the same time caregivers know to be flexible!
Enjoy Each Day
Everyone has different interests, hobbies, and passions. With so many different preferences, our ultimate caregiver tips are to create your loved one’s caregiver a list of favorites.
Try to create daily activities for your caregiver to do with your loved one, such as taking a walk, puzzles, card games, cooking together, crafts and music time. Please be sure to make a list of your loved one’s favorite movie shows and the times the shows are offered on tv. Further, please remember to teach the caregiver how to use the remote. TV remotes differ and the remote can be complicated.
Not Your Cup of Tea
It takes time to get use to new people, routines, and changes in general. Allow your loved one time to ensure the caregiver is the right caregiver for them.
If the caregiver is not the right caregiver, our ultimate caregiver tips is to call the agency after the shift is over. Communication with the agency is critical. Give concrete examples as to why it did not work out and what you feel might have gone wrong. Try not to take it personally if a caregiver may not want to return to the job. It could be the caregiver feels it simply is not a good match for their skills. Open communication and collaboration with the agency is critical.
Communicating with Older Adults
Communication with older adults with cognitive impairment requires unique training and sensitivity. Poor communication from family, care staff, or friends can cause the older adult to become depressed, withdrawn, or even silent.
Do’s and Don’ts
Here are some ultimate caregiver tips for communicating with older adults with cognitive or memory impairment:
- Structure and consistency are critical with care and daily activities, stick to a routine.
- Do not argue or debate with them. Please.
- Do not remind them that they are forgetting… it can cause frustration and sadness for the older adult.
- Prompting and filling in is appropriate for example, you may fill in nouns for them if they are struggling to remember a name. Labeling names of items or places may help too. Remind them of your name, “hi dad it is Jacqueline”. Or “dad, Sara, your caregiver just arrived.” Reminding your loved one of the names will ease frustration, without being demeaning.
- Do not speak about them in front of them. Please go in another room or if not possible, ask them: “is ok if I report a few issues today about how you are feeling to the doctor?”
Usually, it is not appropriate to speak about someone in the third person, it may cause depression or lower someone’s self-efficacy. If a physician or medical person talks “over or through them” in other words ignores that they are present, please advocate and correct the professional…Ageism should not be tolerated. - Signs and written communication are very helpful. You may want to label where the bathroom is with directional arrows, or the exit door with large signs.
- Redirection is so important. When someone is having a hard time, try to ask them about someone or some pleasant event from their long-term memory. Anything to get them off the subject or matter that is bothering them or they may be obsessing about.
The Right Caregiver
Whether you’re hiring through an agency or privately, finding the right fit requires careful consideration. From assessing qualifications to ensuring a good personality match, these essential ultimate caregiver tips help you navigate the hiring process with confidence, giving you peace of mind that your loved one is in capable and compassionate hands.
For more ultimate caregiver tips or best practices when communicating with older adults, please visit our website or contact us directly. Together, we can ensure your loved one has the right caregiver for their specific needs.
Written by Jacqueline DuPont-Carlson, PhD, EdD, Gerontologist
For more questions, please contact an advisor at Assured In Home Care at (800) 925-7159.
