When your loved one needs in-home care, you and the caregiver you hire will make many important decisions together. However, one of the most important ones is the creation of a customized care plan.
A care plan is a detailed outline of your loved one’s specific daily schedule, health issues, medical conditions, medications, and daily care needs.
It will go into depth regarding your loved one’s personality, likes and dislikes, and medical, emotional, functional, and social needs. It must offer thoughtful, precise information that will aid all caregivers in providing the most personalized, consistent, and high-quality support possible.
It should also be carefully tailored to your loved one’s unique personality type. Here is a closer look at how you and your caregiver can collaborate to create the most thorough care plan possible.
Speak With Your Loved One’s Physician
The first thing you should do is speak with your loved one’s physician. They can give you helpful guidance and insight into your loved one’s unique medical and health needs.
This will help you start off on the right track when working with the caregiver to create a care plan. Some questions you should ask the physician are:
- What are my loved one’s specific diagnoses?
- What is their prognosis?
- Can you outline their treatment plan in detail?
- What medications are they taking, and on what schedule?
- What are the risks of a missed dose?
- Are there any prescription or over-the-counter drugs that interact poorly with their meds?
- What is the best dietary plan to maintain their health?
- What warning signs should I look for that indicate a decline in physical or mental health?
- Are there any lifestyle changes we should consider to optimize overall health and wellness?
- How often do they need medical or specialist appointments?
- Should the caregiver we hire have any specific certifications or qualifications?
- What daily tasks or activities are recommended to manage their condition?
Schedule a Comprehensive Assessment
Next, schedule a comprehensive initial assessment in your home with your loved one’s in-home caregiver.
They should have the freedom to evaluate your environment, get a sense of your loved one’s personality and preferences, and assess your daily routine. They will also need information from you about your loved one’s:
- Health history
- Medications and dosage
- Allergies
- Chronic conditions
- Appointments
- Likes and dislikes
- Favorite social and recreational activities
- Dietary needs
- Waking and bedtime schedules
- Ability to complete the activities of daily living, such as bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, and meal preparation
- Recent changes in physical or mental health
- Physician contact information
- Emergency contact list and availability
- Level of family support and involvement
- Long and short-term health goals and quality of life aspirations
Conduct a Home Safety Evaluation
The next step that you should take is to schedule a home safety evaluation. A professional will inspect your home’s interior and exterior to identify potential health and safety risks.
They can also make professional recommendations for modifications, repairs, and upgrades that support your loved one’s goal to age in place. They may recommend assistive technology or devices, safety equipment, and alert devices or alarms.
Involve Your Loved One in the Decision Making
Whenever possible, involve your loved one in conversations about their care. They should feel comfortable speaking with the caregiver about their wants and needs, and know how to voice their feelings so that you can ensure their safety, comfort, and independence.
The more input your loved one has in the creation of the care plan, the more cooperative they will be about going along with it.
Make the Process as Low-Key as Possible
Change can be hard for everyone, even other family members who aren’t involved in the care plan. Try to maintain a calm, stress-free environment during the creation of the plan so that the process is productive for everyone.
If emotions are high and tension is in the air, the caregiver might not get a true sense of your loved one’s personality. This will make it harder for you to create a personalized plan.
Provide Specific Examples of Your Loved One’s Behavior
This is one conversation that is better to hold with your caregiver in private. You will want to give them specific examples of behavioral traits that your loved one has that could influence how care is provided.
Trying to avoid conflict or smooth over difficult personality or behavioral issues may make the caregiver feel ill prepared. You run the risk of a rocky patient-caregiver relationship if your caregiver suddenly encounters personality challenges that negatively impact their ability to provide care safely and easily.
However, if they are briefed in full, you can work together to create contingency plans for challenges that might arise.
Be Patient and Listen Carefully
While you are one of the main authorities on your loved one’s needs, your caregiver is also an expert with extensive experience in senior care. Make sure you give them space to ask questions, discuss concerns, and provide guidance and input.
If you steamroll them during the creation of the care plan, your loved one might not get the high level of personalized care that they need.
Ask for Updates
Once the care plan is created and services begin, ask the caregiver for regular updates as to how your loved one’s care is progressing. You should be notified immediately if there are any conflicts, challenges, or setbacks.
You should also be given information about changes in temperament or personality, signs of physical or mental decline, and adjustments made to the daily routine.
Schedule Regular Reviews
You should also schedule regular reviews to assess the plan and make sure it is still working. Care plans are evolving documents that should be regularly updated to ensure your loved one is still getting the level of care and services they need.
As their condition and abilities change, and changes are made to their environment, the plan should be updated to maintain alignment and consistency.
Let Placita In Home Care Help You Design a Care Plan for Your Loved One
Placita In Home Care understands how emotional and overwhelming it can be to make the decision to hire an in-home caregiver. We do everything we can to simplify, streamline, and humanize the process.
Our goals are to ensure your loved one’s health, comfort, and safety in the home, allowing them to age in place in dignity and grace. We will work closely with you, your loved one, family members, and physicians to gain a comprehensive picture of your loved one’s needs, abilities, and goals.
We create dynamic, highly individualized patient care plans that account for unique personalities and environments. A cookie cutter approach to care is not productive or useful, so we like to develop a true picture of the patient’s personality and physical and mental health needs so that we can offer the highest level of care.
To get started, we invite you to schedule a consultation for in-home care in the Tucson or Phoenix metro area. Call us today or fill out our contact form online to set up an initial meeting.