The Best Ways to Arrange Comprehensive Senior Care

You need a senior care plan that covers all of your parent’s needs. Your mom lives alone and no longer drives. She has a few chronic health conditions that require prescription medications and a special diet. To make sure she’s’ able to age at home, you want a comprehensive care plan that covers all of her needs and leaves room for caregivers to add services as needed.

Senior care plans can be adapted to meet changing needs. Here are the tips to use to ensure your mom gets a comprehensive senior care plan from the start.

Go Over a List of Activities of Daily Living

Senior Care Glenview, IL:The Best Ways to Arrange Comprehensive Senior Care

Activities of daily living (ADLs) are tasks people do every day. ADLs include:

  • Bathing, personal care, and hygiene
  • Feeding oneself
  • Getting dressed and undressed
  • Toileting
  • Transferring from a bed/chair/sofa to a standing position and vice versa
  • Walking around independently or with the help of a cane or walker

If there are tasks on that list that your mom cannot do alone, you need to have a caregiver helping out. Caregivers can be family members, friends, or professionals. If you try to save money and provide care on your own, be aware that you may need to alter your work hours or quit your job. That can impact your future retirement income needs and healthcare costs.

Go Over a List of the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

The other list to go over is the list of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). These include:

  • Cooking meals and planning weekly menus
  • Driving a car or using transportation services
  • Keeping the house clean and organized
  • Paying bills and managing money
  • Shopping for household items and groceries
  • Socialize with others in her community
  • Taking medications on time and ordering refills when needed
  • Using the phone, email, or instant message services

If your mom struggles with any of the IADLs, it can make it harder for her to age at home. If she can’t get to the grocery store because she doesn’t drive, she needs to be able to order grocery deliveries if that’s an option. She needs to be able to cook meals that meet her nutritional needs. She needs to be able to make and keep appointments.

Go over each of these lists and check off the things your mom cannot do without help. Once you have that list compiled, call a senior care agency. A caregiver can help her complete more difficult tasks. The goal is to keep her at home without risking her safety or health. With senior care services, she can age at home.

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Care in Glenview, IL, contact the caring staff atCompanion Services of Americatoday at(847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas. 

Jamie Shapiro