The Common Struggle
Very commonly our patient advocates hear families complain of constantly contacting their home health agency to request a change in a caregiver. They welcome a new caregiver, then, again, they dislike some aspects of the preformed care and request another change, and the cycle continues. With this pattern of constant change comes frustration and despair. Families are not sure what else to do or where to turn as they seek solutions.
Having the ability to identify the right caregiver is crucial to ensure consistency and stability in care delivered. Individuals who need a caregiver are often in need of being helped, feeling safe, and secure in their day-to-day functioning. Feeling safe and secure is more important than the practical help such as assistance with bathing, meal prep, etc. It is more important because sense of safety and security allows individuals to trust the helping professional and cooperate with assistance offered. Therefore, constant change in caregivers can shake the sense of safety and security among older adults. This can lead to resistance to receiving care and participate in activities of daily living.
Here’s Why Patient Advocates Are Helpful
So, we encourage our families to stop and think. Are all caregivers bad at their job? Is it a matter of a caregiver insufficient professionalism or perhaps insufficient orientation and training based on the unique needs of each family? Ah Ah! Our extensive experience proved us that with a comprehensive training to caregivers, conducted by our patient advocates and care managers, clients and families experienced significant improvement and satisfaction from care delivered. As a result, we have seen increase in sense of safety and security for our clients.
Each caregiver training is uniquely designed based on the individual needs of each client. It includes education on relevant topics such as cultural/spiritual needs, language barrier, fall safety, coping with resistance, caring for individuals with memory impairment, and more. Each training also includes preparation of cheat-sheets and logs to track core tasks such as time and frequency of meals, logging of blood pressure numbers, frequency of laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, and more. Ultimately, the training allows open communication of expectations related to the needs of each individual. Better experience means better care and stability.
Having difficulty with your caregiver? Looking to hire a caregiver and unsure where to start?
Feel free to speak with one of our patient advocates today.
Call us at 305-204-7392. Florida Patient Advocate Program is operated by RK Care Group LLC. You can read more about us at www.RKCareGroup.com or you can read specifics of this program at www.FloridaPatientAdvocate.com