A Day In The Life Of A In-home Caregiver

The specific activities of an in-home caregiver depend on the client’s needs, but they always involve attentiveness, compassion, and empathy. These people-skills are every bit as important as the caregiver’s skills in assisting a person into or out of bed or off the toilet, managing food and medicine timetables and interactions, cooking appropriate foods, operating oxygen equipment, emptying catheter bags, and properly doing household chores.

For seniors who only require part-time assistance, the in-home caregiver may start by assessing what is needed for that particular day. The needs may include picking up specially requested items on the way such as groceries, prescriptions, library materials, or gifts for grandchildren. The caregiver’s day may involve assisting a senior with grooming and dressing, helping them get into and out of a personal car, van, or special bus service to visit doctors, going shopping, seeing friends or family, or going on a special outing such as concert, or even pushing a wheelchair through the city park. Or, the caregiver’s day may be spent entirely in the senior’s home, assisting with meal preparation, medications, laundry, changing bedding, helping with physical exercises, personal hygiene, or just being good company. Being good company can include conversation, board games, reminiscing through photo albums, reading out loud, or sharing a good movie.

If the senior requires full-time, live-in care, the in-home caregiver begins by preparing coffee or breakfast, opening blinds, administering medications and greeting the senior with a sensitive but cheerful attitude. The rest of the day will be spent meeting the senior’s various needs. However, a full-time caregiver may occasionally retreat to an assigned bedroom for a break, or to give the person under their care some quiet time alone. But even on break, the caregiver keeps an attentive ear in case the senior calls for help or sounds distressed.

A caregiver often has to deal with the less-than-pretty aspects of aging by assisting the senior with using the bathroom, changing disposable underwear or soiled bedding and dressing sores. But these duties are all handled in stride and often in a lighthearted manner that helps to ease the senior’s feelings of discomfort or embarrassment.

Some caregivers spend their day going from home to home and assist various seniors who only need help with specific tasks for just an hour or two at a time.

Along with whatever physical duties are performed, the in-home caregiver always does his or her best to add a positive and uplifting energy to the home through their attitude, manner, and conversation.

Caregiving can be an exhausting job, but it’s also a very rewarding one. Our caregivers truly care about doing their best to improve the quality of life for you and your loved one. They renew their commitment to you each day they knock on the door