Canada's population keeps aging and while this happens, more and more families want to keep their older loved ones in the comfort of their own homes. However, due to full-time work and other responsibilities, many relatives of these seniors don’t have the time to offer them all the care they deserve, and they also don’t have the right skills for the job. This is when health care agencies or home health agencies come to the rescue.
Health care agencies are companies specialized in providing caregiving and nursing services to people in need, whether they are seniors, terminally ill patients, recovering patients, or disabled individuals with special needs. What sets these agencies apart from other healthcare-focused companies is the fact that they provide home services, wherever the patient lives. This is why they are most times known as home health agencies or home care agencies.
Most health care agencies specialize in providing services that improve their patient’s wellbeing, but also the wellbeing of their family members, and the community in general. To achieve this most of these companies go beyond health-related services to offer personal care services, homemaking support, companionship, and more.
To be more specific, most of the services provided by these agencies are related to supporting their clients with activities of their daily lives, including bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, moving around, etc. The idea is for patients to continue to live a comfortable life in their own homes, an approach that often helps them remain more involved in their own wellbeing and less anxious about their situation.
Health care organizations usually employ caregivers like personal support workers (PSW) and nurses, who look for employment with these companies because of the experience they could acquire and the meaningful work they get to do with patients while helping them cope with their loss of independence.
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Health care employers and home health agencies offer an invaluable service to the community by helping families take good care of their seniors and relatives with special needs in their own homes, as previously stated, without removing them from their beloved neighborhoods where they have probably lived for decades. Their caregiving activities are seen as giving back to the community by contributing to the wellbeing of their elder members.
These agencies provide so much peace of mind to people who can't care for their senior relatives on a regular basis because of full-time work and probably because they have kids that need care and attention too. As a result, many elders may feel isolated and depressed. This is the type of situation personal support workers and nurses are trained to deal with.
Unfortunately, many families don’t realize when it is time to call in the services of an external caregiver for their relative that needs special care. Other times they do realize it but feel discouraged from asking for help because they feel is their duty to care for their loved one, even when they really can’t.
For this reason, it is important to see the early signs of family distress to start making arrangements early in order to find the perfect caregiver that really fits into the family’s routine, lifestyle, and particular needs. Some of these signs are not having time for personal tasks like shopping, banking, or running regular errands because work and caregiving activities don’t leave much room; being unable to complete proper housekeeping tasks due to having to care for that family member in need, and starting to see how the entire home is out of sorts because of this, or identifying signs of anxiety and depression in said family member because of inconsistent care.
None of these signs should cause shame or embarrassment in a family. Instead, they should be indicators of an imminent need for additional help. Health care and home health agencies understand this very well and truly believe that no one should feel overburdened like that. That is why they usually have multiple professional caregivers with diverse caregiving backgrounds, who are ready to provide a respectable and kind service.
Are you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted due to family caregiving duties? Do you have a senior relative or a loved one with special needs at home that requires additional support?
We hope this information was of value to you and we would be glad to answer your questions or concerns about this topic.
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