Senior Caregiver Training Delivers Quality Care

Senior care can quickly present itself as a need for a family with an aging loved-one who may suddenly need assistance with their activities of daily living.

As the former owner of a senior home care agency, I can share many scenarios I witnessed when setting up care services for a family.  Here are the common scenarios that lead to senior caregiving services starting:

• Memory Loss Causes an Incident

• Suffering an Injury from a Fall

• Diagnosis of an Age-Related Illness

• Recovery from Surgery

• Death of a Spouse

• Adult Child Moves Away

Notice that none of the items in this list include:  planned ahead for senior care services. The ideal situation would be for a family to discuss care options before the senior requires care and then to begin with 2 hours of care a week.  But that’s right, nobody plans ahead for senior care.  Even the wealthy seniors, who plan for senior care financially, rarely plan for the exact care needs they would like to have in place until an event triggers the need.

Some senior care corporations have paid advertising agencies to conduct audience research to find out when adults make the decision for senior caregiving services. They found out the same answer: nobody plans ahead for senior care.

We all sort of hope we will sail out the same way we sailed into this life - a quick slap on our bottom and out we go.  But, it just doesn’t work that way in reality.

Most Americans born today will live past the age of 100 years old.  Baby Boomers are living longer than any generation before them, while needing care services for at least 2 years of their lifetime. While we have changed our lifespans, we haven't changed our retirement ages - at least not yet.

Since planning ahead for senior care will rarely be part of the equation, it is important to be able to quickly understand the caregiver training required when seniors need assistance.

Senior care is not like child care.  It varies widely based on both the mental and physical health of the senior.  Memory loss and depression, which can be a natural part of aging as your loved ones begin passing away, require caregivers to be skilled in managing these issues. This is why caregivers must receive professionally guided learning instruction on how to specificly care for a senior.

Quality senior care companies are licensed according the requirements in their state.  Caregiver training is usually required for licensed senior care companies.  In addition, most professional companies will provide professional caregiver training as part of their hiring process.

Caregiverlist provides a basic caregiver training course, meeting the requirements established by senior care industry professionals as part of state licensing proposals.

The basic senior caregiver training includes:

• Caregiver Job Responsibilities

• Communication Skills

• Observation, Reporting and Documentation

• Performance of ADL Tasks: Bathing, Skin Care, Hair Care, Nail Care, Mouth Care, Shaving, Dressing, Feeding, Assistance with Ambulation, Exercise and Transfers, Positioning, Toileting, and Medication Reminding

• Performance of Ability to Assist in the Use of Specific Adaptive Equipment

• Basic Hygiene and Basic Infection Control

• Maintenance of a Clean, Safe and Healthy Environment

• Basic Personal and Environmental Safety Precautions

• Recognizing Emergencies and Knowledge of Emergency Procedures, including Basic First Aid and Client’s Emergency Preparedness Plan

• Confidentiality of Client Personal, Financial and Health Information

• Knowledge of Understanding Abuse and Neglect and Legal Prohibitions Against Such Behaviors

Senior caregiving requires professionally trained caregivers in order for both the senior and the caregiver to enjoy a healthy and safe caregiving experience.  Especially when memory loss is involved, it is important that a caregiver has proper training.

In addition, the dynamics of senior caregiving present an added level of stress to each day. Beyond just caring for the senior, the caregiver must deal with the senior’s daily emotions as well as the senior’s family members.  This is why hiring a professional senior home care agency makes the process of aging-in-place in the senior’s home successful.  The senior home care agency provides an active Care Manager to manage the caregiver and the care (and to help manage the family members, because, yes, pretty much every single family has some interesting characters). Professional senior care management by a senior home care agency makes everything go smoothly, while also providing all the necessary legal protections, benefits, healthcare and taxes for the caregiver.

Learn more about professional senior caregiver training and purchase an online professional senior caregiver course to make the journey easier. You may also reserach senior care costs in your area and receive a care plan of providers near you.