Many Nigerians find it difficult to cope with having to be at work early in the morning and having to take care of an elderly one. Taking care of an elderly person can be quite demanding and very tiring especially if the elderly person is dependent and needs a lot of help. This is the reason many employ an house help that will be fully available to take care of their elderly one when they are not around. We are looking at this topic because it is important we understand that a house help is different from a caregiver. You can decide to employ the services of the two if you so wish.
An house help is a person paid to perform the overall domestic chores such as extensive cleaning, laundry, ironing, cooking etc.
The main duties of a maid is to ensure that they complete all the tasks assigned, and that the cleanliness of the house is maintained. The maid does not necessarily focus their attention and energy on a particular person, but on the entire household as a whole.
Please note that house helps do not have the proper training or background to administer care towards a person in need of special care.
They may have gone through training to equip them with the right skills and techniques to ensure that the household can be cleaned and maintained in the most efficient way but do not have the specialized training on how to care for a person having dementia.
A Caregiver, on the other hand, is a person paid and has been trained and equipped with the skills to assist the care recipient with their Activities of Daily Living, which includes eating, bathing, getting dressed, continence, as well as moving around. They are trained
to know that they have to understand the elderly person and his needs and follow the care plan accordingly. They are trained to handle care recipients with special needs and difficult behaviors such as Alzheimers, parkinsons, dementia, mood swings, hallucinations just to mention a few.
The Caregivers are also able to provide care in the form of prompting to take medication (caregiver),checking and recording the vital signs, physical exercise, engaging with mind-stimulating activities such as playing games, listening to music, drawing and painting etc, and companionship.
Apart from that, Caregivers are also specifically trained to know how to handle a person, including the right techniques to carry a person without injuring them.
They are trained on how to maintain confidentiality, show respect,ensure that the dignity and privacy of the elderly one is maintained, respect the rights of the elderly, empathy and sensitivity to the needs of the elderly person as well. They are trained on what to do when their is an emergency. They can carry out cardio pulmonary rescusitation when necessary and knows the importance of daily proper documentation and recording. They are trained about bed side manners, knowing the nutritional needs of the elderly one based on the medical condition.
The Caregiver is primarily to focus their attention and energy on providing care to the person in need. The Caregiver’s role mainly revolves around this person,
ensuring that sufficient care is provided to ensure that the care recipient is able to function normally, and that their most immediate space is kept clean.
The key differences between a maid and a Caregiver are the skills they possess, as well as their overall role in terms of what is required of them.
House helps generally require no formal education or training, whereas a caregiver would have gone through a series of training to ensure that they are able to administer appropriate care to the care recipient.
People generally get confused between the role of a Caregiver with that of a househelp when it comes to housekeeping. The expectations have to be set right from the start so that no disappointment happens. The responsibility of the Caregiver, in relation to housekeeping, is to ensure that the care recipient’s belongings, as well as their most immediate environment are kept clean. Adding to that, the caregiver is to also ensure that the areas which are affected during their duty are also to be maintained.
Some of the things that can be expected of the Caregiver includes:
– Cooking for the care recipient, and cleaning up the kitchen/dining area after use
– Sweeping and mopping the room of which the care recipient spends the majority of their time in
– Doing the care recipient’s laundry
– Cleaning up after the care recipient in the case of any accident
– Changing of bed linen to ensure that the care recipient has a clean bed
– Accompany your elderly one to the hospital,bank and any other place he or she needs to visit
It is important for the care recipient or their immediate family members to discuss and clarify the expectations of the Caregiver when it comes to housekeeping duties.
Caregivers are not househelps/domestic workers, and should not be treated as such.
Knowing the difference between a maid and a Caregiver helps you to make the right choice in terms of what kind of assistance you need at home, ensuring that you get the best care for your family!
Rockgarden Homecare Agency provides trained, passionate, disciplined, trustworthy and hardwordking health care professionals for Elderly Care and Home Recovery.
Our team of professionals (caregivers/nurses) were carefully selected, trained for at least two weeks with hands on practical experience at our residential facility and equipped with the relevant skills which are required to provide care for you and your family members.
Once you call us, we will send you our online assessment form. Our medical team will review it and we will conduct an onsite assessment to sight your loved one and your home setting and come up with necessary recommendations and a care plan and will be able to assign the right caregiver with the skill set, stature and frame to meet the needs of your elderly one.
for example, a family member with dementia will be assigned with a caregiver or nurse who has been trained to handle people with dementia.
You can now get a professional caregiver to provide the best care for you and your family members.
Visit our website at www.rockgardenhomecareagency.com to find out more about our services and our pocket-friendly cost rates. We are the first-class domiciliary caregivers!
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Contact us today at +2348167176778 or +2348151451494 (WhatsApp) to enquire and request for our online assessment form to be sent to you.
Rockgarden Homecare Agency is a standard and well-coordinated domiciliary care service provider. We offer preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative healthcare services to seniors in a systematic way that simulates bringing the hospital to the comfort of your home.