Westport Home Health Care for the Elderly

The day came when my siblings and I felt we had to take our parents' care into our own hands. It is a difficult realization. Our parents who took care of us now needed to be taken care of by strangers.

My father had dementia and was mobile. My mother was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the disease was taking its toll on her mobility. She was completely in denial that she was seriously ill. Her health was declining. She was oozing through her skin and had to wear special wraps. My brother and I met with my mother and told her that she needed help. She of course thought it was her duty to take care of my father alone. Finally she agreed to hire a caregiver.

Do you know how hard it is to find a caregiver in Westport for a dementia patient? Do you hire someone from a service or do you hire an individual? It was fortunate that we found someone who agreed to help my mother give care to my father and who my mother liked.

In the beginning, the caregiver was a great help to my mother in tending to my father's physical exercise and hygiene. She also cleaned the house. It was hard for my mother to accept that someone was in her house taking care of these things. After all, it was her job to do these things. However, my mother became very ill. Soon, the caregiver started caring for my mother as well. I would talk to my mother everyday and ask "is the itching better?" She would always respond, "I'll be fine." Then, she would proceed to tell me about my father's health problems.

Eventually, one caregiver was not enough to take care both of them 24 hours/day/seven days a week. Again, we were fortunate that our caregiver knew of other caregivers who we could hire. They were loving, caring ladies who adored my parents.

• Good references

• Observe how they interact with your parent

• Ask them to keep a log of behaviors, medicine and eating habits; if they refuse you know not to hire them

• Ask them to give experiences in caring for patients; give examples of how they handled difficult behavior and/or how they handled dementia patients

Hiring caregivers in Westport can be a tricky situation. They have to be adaptable to the patient's needs and demonstrate empathy, yet they have to be firm in caring for them.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about home health care for the elderly please visit Elderly Home Care Today for current articles and discussions