How care givers in rest homes should treat the elderly

Care givers in rest homes have been entrusted by the families of the elderly to provide the best care for their loved ones. Rest homes, often times come as the last resort for a family with an elderly person. Generally, people take their elderly family members to rest homes because they believe that these members will get the much deserved attention and care while at the rest home. Care providers should treat them by observing:

Comfort

The elderly in most cases depend on the care provider for support in almost everything that they do. Their comfort should be a priority. Understanding their needs and responding in good time is of paramount importance. Those who care for them should ensure that they do not have bed sores, provide extra cushions, ease their pain, smile and be cheerful.  

Protection

The patients need to be protected and made to feel secure. Bed-ridden and the vulnerable patients may need physical protection from the other patients in order to keep them safe from harm. Patients who have high levels of dementia need to be protected from themselves.

Kindness and patience

Being kind to the patient will boost their confidence in addition to making them feel warm and comfortable. Apart from appreciating this gesture, the patient will not feel lonely. The care provider also needs to exercise patience while dealing with them since they may be forgetful, repetitive and at times, difficult.

Respect

Patients sometimes are hard to care for especially when they are not cooperative or rude. Nonetheless, ignoring them is the worst thing you can do since they may not know what they are doing. One still needs to be respectful to them. They may not be able to do some basic things by themselves but they are still human beings with feelings and emotions. They would love to be independent but age does not allow them.

Privacy

A care giver should at all times ensure the patient’s privacy is respected. In cases where they need to bath the patient, it is strongly recommended that the same sex care provider should do the bathing and do so politely and gently. Care providers should knock before entering a patient’s room except in cases of emergency.

Interaction

When a patient is not visited, they may feel unwanted. Those giving care should ensure they interact with these patients to make them feel wanted and needed. They could also arrange for a day where they meet other elderly people from other rest homes so that they can mingle. This can keep them in high spirits and boost their morale tremendously.

Recreational activities

This should be used as a form of distraction. These patients may be feeling lonely and left out. If they are engaged in simple activities, they can forget their troubles and boost their morale. Examples of activities include; watching TV, reading, listening to the radio, board games, BINGO and so forth.

Gentleness

These patients need to be handled with care and gentleness. They are fragile and have weak bones. The care rendered to them should equal that of a new born baby. When giving care to the elderly, treat them the way you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes.