It’s never easy letting go of the people with whom you have spent most of your life. However, as we age, our needs change and older individuals need specialised services to live a safe and fulfilling life. While it might seem like a good idea to have your parents move in with you and live in the same home, you will need to make many changes for them to adjust. For instance, going up the stairs can become quite difficult for older parents, especially if they suffer from hip problems or other joint issues. The solution is to make arrangements for them on the ground floor or install a lift to help them make their way up the stairs.
Mobility is only one of the many concerns for older individuals to create a fulfilling living experience. There are several things to consider, such as their diet, medication, physical environment, and, most importantly, whether someone is constantly available to assist them. When you live at home with your parents, it’s unlikely that you will be able to give them your undivided attention. Especially if your parents have difficulty communicating, you will want someone who can constantly be with them.
A dedicated senior residence can be the best solution to manage all these challenges. The Heritage Care Botany project will provide permanent respite care to people in aged care facilities in regional NSW. It will also enhance aged care home staff’s skills in providing high-quality care for their residents. However, not all aged care facilities are the same. Here are a few things you should look out for.
1. ACAT
Before you go out and buy an aged care residence service, it’s good to understand the exact needs of your older parents to figure out what will work best for them. This will help you narrow your options and look for things that will benefit them. You can get an Aged Care Assessment Test (ACAT), where a team can visit you at home to help you better understand your parents’ needs. This way, you will get expert advice about the most important things for your parents, and you can look for a service provider who has these same services.
2. Medical Competence
Medical problems are a natural part of ageing, and older parents will have some problems. Proper management of different diseases is vital to ensuring that the problem doesn’t worsen and that the patient can live a comfortable life. The care professionals at Arcare suggest that you choose a service provider with a team of people trained to care for that specific disease. For instance, if your parents have diabetes, do they have meal plans that are designed to meet the dietary needs of a diabetic patient? Is their facility designed to accommodate people suffering from joint problems and arthritis?
3. Staffing Arrangements
It is not uncommon to find aged care residences without adequately trained staff. Many homes don’t even have enough caretakers compared to the number of seniors living there. You want to ensure that the team looking after your parents has the proper education in aged care and relevant experience. Several aged care services employ little knowledge about this profession, and many lack appropriate training. The needs of older adults are very different from other individuals, and you want to make sure that they have what it takes to deliver that kind of service. So, when doing research, only click for adult family homes that have well-trained and experienced staff. Having the right people to attend to your parents can make the entire experience much better.
4. Reviews
It’s always a good idea to look around for reviews, listen to word-of-mouth recommendations, and consider what others say about a specific service provider. Input from people who have already used that service can be precious. This is not to say that new aged care service providers with few reviews are unreliable, but it can take a lot of guesswork out of the decision if you go with a tried and trusted option.
Finding the right aged-care service provider for your parents can be a complicated and cumbersome when you are doing it for the first time. If you can put in the time and effort that it requires, it is something that will reward you down the line. So, please make the effort today to find your parents the care and attention they need and deserve.