10 Typical Duties of a Hired Caregiver
As your family and senior loved one consider in-home care services, you might wonder about the typical duties of a hired caregiver. Senior caregiver responsibilities range from small household tasks to critical medication management. The duties of your hired caregiver will be specific to your senior’s needs and desires. However, for general purposes, here are ten typical duties of a hired caregiver.
1. Assist with daily living activities
Daily living activities could include tasks like dressing, bathing, toileting, and personal grooming. An in-home caregiver helps with any of these personal hygiene needs. People often struggle to perform these tasks independently during recovery after an injury, surgery, or stroke. An in-home caregiver will give them as much support as they need while encouraging rehabilitation and independence.
2. Assist with medication
It’s very important for seniors to take their prescribed medication at the right time and dosage. Hired caregivers are trained to help with managing a senior’s medication. This looks like preparing the medication, reminders to take them, and monitoring side effects. An in-home caregiver can even assist with dropping off and picking up prescription refills at the pharmacy. This extra help with your senior’s medication will help ensure they are safely taking their medication.
3. Driving and transportation
In-home caregiving services extend outside the home as well. For example, caregivers can help with driving your senior loved one to where they need to go. This allows your senior loved one to get out of the house and enjoy activities at the senior center, shop at the grocery store, or go to doctor’s appointments. At Caregivers United, we’re passionate about helping your senior loved one stay independent, so we are happy to perform this caregiving duty.
4. Offer companionship
One of the most important responsibilties of a hired caregiver is providing companionship. Companion care means building a relationship with your senior loved one and simply enjoying each other’s company. Social interactions go a long way in a senior’s physical, emotional, and mental health. A good quality in-home caregiver will engage with your senior beyond the logistical job duties.
5. Prepare meals and light housekeeping
As your senior loved one’s mobility declines due to age or a chronic condition, it’s challenging to cook healthy meals and keep the home in order. A hired caregiver can prepare meals and complete light housekeeping tasks for your senior family member. At Caregivers United, our caregivers are equipped to provide a recommended diet and meal plan to meet their specific needs. Additionally, staying on top of general housekeeping will keep the home safe for your senior to move around.
6. Encourage exercise and physical therapy
Exercising and therapy are essential whether your senior is recovering from surgery/injury or suffering from chronic conditions. One of the daily tasks a hired caregiver will complete is helping with your senior’s exercises or physical therapy. If specific therapy exercises are prescribed to your family member, an in-home caregiver will help ensure those are completed. Caregivers can also encourage daily movement and exercise by taking walks around the neighborhood or doing other light exercises.
7. Evaluate home safety
Caregivers are trained to inspect a home for potential safety hazards for your senior loved one. We believe it’s beneficial for your senior family member to live in their own home whenever possible, but it must be a safe environment. An in-home caregiver can evaluate the home and offer recommendations to make it more accessible for your senior loved one.
8. Assist with mobility
Another typical duty of a hired caregiver is offering mobility assistance. This could look like transferring from the bed to the bathroom, chair, or car. Whether this is a short-term or long-term need, it gives family members peace of mind that their senior can safely move around the home as needed with the help of an in-home caregiver.
9. Make a care plan
While many of a caregiver’s tasks include providing immediate care and assistance, caregivers also can make a care plan tailored to your senior loved one’s specific needs. A care plan gives an overall blueprint for the care needed for your senior loved one. For example, adding routines to the daily schedule is very important for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. So daily routines are essential to include in a care plan that everyone is aware of.
10. Provide injury/surgery recovery care
Sometimes your senior loved one has unique or short-term needs due to a surgery or injury. For example, a very common job duty of an in-home caregiver is providing injury and surgery recovery care. This might include assisting with mobility, therapies, new routines, lifestyle changes, and anything specific to the condition.
Caregivers United is the trusted in-home caregiving service in Sarasota. We provide each client with the highest level of care and treat everyone as if they are our own family. When you trust your senior loved one with one of our top-quality in-home caregivers, you can rest assured they are receiving the exact care they need for their physical and emotional health. We invite you to request a free courtesy visit to assess your needs!
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