If you have come to the realization that your elderly parents finally need elderly care, you may be on board with taking care of them yourself. While that is well and good and noble, you may have missed a few points in what this major task involves. Most adult children tend to forget that caring for their elderly parents involves more than just helping their parents get up and dressed in the morning, or giving them their medication. It involves all of the following, and if you are not ready for these aspects of elderly care, you may want to consider alternatives to doing the job yourself.
Showering and Bathing
Adult children tend to forget that elderly parents will need to bathe. If your mom or dad cannot wash themselves, that leaves the task up to you. It is a very personal and uncomfortable situation to see your parents in the nude and have to touch parts of their bodies you would not ordinarily touch. Yet, this is a major part of elderly care; keeping them clean so they remain healthy. At the very least, you may want to hire a nurse to do the showering and bathing aspects in order to keep these family and personal boundaries intact.
Toileting
Elderly people have to use the bathroom. That fact does not change with age. You may need to assist your mom or dad with getting their pants up and down, wiping their derrieres when they cannot reach because of obesity and/or arthritis, and making sure they do not have remnants of toilet paper stuck to them. If your parents use disposable undergarments because of bladder or bowel incontinence issues, then you have to make sure these products are changed regularly to prevent infections. This is another personal task that most adult children tend to forget when they decide to care for their parents themselves.
Pureed or Mechanical Soft Diets
The older your parents get the more difficult it will be to get them to eat. You may eventually have to feed them as the result of dementia, loss of motor control or lack of teeth. Your parents may also need a change in diet forms, from solid to mechanical soft (has mushy chunks that can be gummed and swallowed) to pureed (where the meal is almost drinkable rather than chewed). Some people do not mind the extra meal preparations needed, but if you find that you do not have the time to do this for your parents, in-home nursing care can definitely help.
For more information or assistance, contact companies like Polish Helping Hands.
