24 hour home care
Families use home care services in many different situations depending on their family’s needs. At Griswold Home Care – San Antonio our home care services are always focused on our clients. We offer shifts from 2 to 24 hours with no minimum amount of shifts or number of hours per week. Families that only need assistance with a few basic items such as getting ready in the morning, doctors appointments or meal prep often elect to go with 2 hour shifts. While other families have a loved one that requires 24 hour home care services and that leads them down a different path. In this blog we will review which circumstances may require around the clock care, how we typically structure the shift and what families can expect.
Circumstances for 24 hour home care
Families find value in 24 hour home care for many reasons. Let’s take a closer look at some of the situations that we have seen in our 15 years of experience.
Temporary Recovery
Many times a patient is discharged from the hospital or inpatient rehab. In these situations they may have limited mobility, difficulty getting out of bed, toileting, getting dressed and other basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL’s). If the family is not able to provide temporary support oftentimes a social worker may recommend getting 24 hour home care during the recovery process. In these situations it is understood that as the strength and mobility returns they will reduce the amount of care received until they are independent. In these situations it is important to find a home care company that allows flexibility in scheduling. As the patient improves the expectation is that they will scale back care in accordance with the recovery.
Alzheimer’s or Dementia Care
Griswold Home Care – San Antonio is fully committed to supporting Alzheimer’s Caregivers and those living with the disease. Our Director of Community Relations leads a weekly support group for early stage Alzheimer’s patients and their families. As Alzheimer’s or Dementia progresses there are many different options to provide care for your loved ones. For many families it is best to place their loved one in a memory care or Alzheimer’s facility. While others choose to care for their loved one at home throughout the journey. If the family decides to keep their loved one at home the home care company will be a valued partner in the care of the family member. In the later stages of Alzheimer’s the patient will need assistance with several items including eating and drinking, personal care and mobility. This will typically require a strong support system from the family and often a pretty significant amount of home care.
Bed Bound Care
The classification of bed bound care is fairly broad. Someone can be bed bound and have a spectrum of cognitive and physical abilities. There are major considerations in the care of a bed bound patient. We often find it necessary to be in the home 24 hours a day when we are assisting with positioning to prevent bed sores, providing nutritional support, personal hygiene and companionship.
Hospice Home Care
Hospice is an incredible service and we partner with many local companies in providing care for families. Even today hospice is underutilized and are usually engaged too late in the process. In addition to the nursing support Hospice can offer they usually provide a personal care aide that can help with bathing and personal care a few days a week. For some patients that is sufficient but for many others they will need additional care and families will need additional support. As the patient nears end of life the need for care may increase significantly. Griswold Home Care has the ability to ramp up services quickly to meet those needs.
What to Expect with 24 Hour Home Care
Home Care is unique in that it is an incredibly personal service. We do our best to evaluate the needs of the client and find the best caregivers for that particular case. In 24 hour home care cases we typically schedule two 12 hour shifts per day, 7 days per week. This will assure consistent caregivers and that proper shift handover takes place. A 24 hour schedule will take a consistent team of caregivers and support staff. Families can expect 4 – 6 consistent caregivers to be assigned to the case.
Griswold Home Care’s goal is to be a partner in providing care for your loved one. When a family member is needing around the clock care it can be incredibly difficult for the family. Family Caregivers often deal with burden, stress and depression. Our services can often provide respite for that family caregiver. No matter how much support is needed we can help you and your family achieve the best outcome possible.
If you are interested in starting services or have additional questions feel free to contact us at anytime.