Services for Caregivers
Abstract
Caregivers are the people who provide regular care to the relatives, friends or anyone in need. There are numerous services caregivers can provide to the people depending on the nature of the illness or the health condition that calls for therapy. Caregivers across the world feel that their role is to provide emotional and physical aid to the needy. In order to provide effective services, the caregivers must ensure that they have enough expertise to provide specialized care. For instance, professionals must meet the mandate of the Medicare and the health agency before providing care-giving services. While performing their duties, caregivers should also socialize with the veterans in order to create a union and companionship among them. This paper will analyze a number of services caregivers can provide. The paper will also discuss the level of professionalism needed to perform caregiver service.
Services for Caregivers
Caregivers are the people who provide regular care to the relatives, friends or anyone in need. Some people perform the duties of care giving without any request. Even though the amount of care giving may have increased overtime, many caregivers across the world feel that their role is to provide emotional and physical aid to the needy. In addition, caregivers can provide various services depending on the people who need aid. Some people in need of assistance are aged while others suffer from diseases that make them to ask for aid. Actually, in each of these cases, the type of aid is different. In other words, the services provided by caregivers vary from one individual to another; hence, the caregivers must be experienced and eligible in order to provide the necessary assistance (Beales, & Edes, 2009). The following are some services provided by caregivers.
Constant Supervision
Caregivers deal with people who cannot take care of themselves. For instance, a person with Alzheimer’s disease requires constant assistance in order to live comfortably. Therefore, the caregiver should be willing to help the victim. The caregivers should socialize with the victims while providing care and rehabilitation needs when possible. To ensure high-quality service, supervisory training is required in order to enhance understanding of care giving and the conflicting demands of work. During such training, the regulations of antidiscrimination and family leave can be met (Beales, & Edes, 2009).
Caregivers must provide the supervising duty to their clients. They should participate in activities that enable them to acquire experience in the field of care giving. Moreover, they should socialize with their clients. During the communication, the clients can feel free. For instance, a number of clients, who require aid from caregivers, have health problems; hence, the caregivers should be professional. In other words, they should be able to assess the needs of their clients and to provide care in the most appropriate manner. In addition, the caregivers should satisfy the health needs of the clients. The role of a supervisor should be incorporated in the provision of different services that satisfy clients’ needs. The type of rehabilitation services also depends on the specific health assessment of each client. Therefore, a partnership between the caregiver and the client should be created in order to provide the necessary aid.
Home-based Primary Care
Among the numerous services provided by caregivers, the provision of home-based primary care is one of the routine duties. The home-based care means that the caregiver is required to provide health care services from the client’s home. This duty has some challenges as the caregiver is required to travel each day in order to provide aid. Only the medical professionals who have experience in the services of nursing and primary care can provide home-based care. The caregivers in this field should also have experience in helping plan and manage medication. Moreover, they should be able to take care of the client’s health by combining tasty and nutritious meals. Home-based care should also encompass mental health care and rehabilitation services provided to the client. Home-based care provided by caregivers is important as it reduces the stress of taking veterans to the medical center (Beales, & Edes, 2009).
Skilled Home Care
Expertise in Care Giving
All the caregivers have different roles that depend on their level of professionalism. Caregivers who provide skilled home care should be able to provide exceptional care from the veterans’ home. Moreover, the caregivers who are experienced in providing skilled home care should be able to provide physical nursing services, as well as occupational and speech therapies to the veterans. The service provided by caregivers delivers a great advantage to the veteran because they are homebound. The care giving services are provided from clients’ homes; hence, they do not incur transportation fees while experiencing medical services. Even though this type of service is a bit similar to the home-based primary care, it includes a VA purchasing care, which should be obtained from a licensed professional (Funk, Stajduhar, Toye, Aoun, Grande, & Todd, 2010).
Certified Personnel
For caregivers to provide the services of skilled home care, they should be able to certify with the requirements of the Medicare. Moreover, the care-giving professional should certify that the patient is homebound. In fact, the caregivers in this field should provide speech-language pathology, physical therapy, or continued therapy services to their patients. Furthermore, the caregivers should ensure that the services are effective and safe for the veteran. In addition, these services can only be provided in cases of specific illness. In fact, qualified therapists are proved to provide the services in the most efficient manner. The frequency, amount, and the time it takes for the professional to complete the required service is of great help to the patient and the health agency. This means that the professional can provide similar services to a number of people in a single day. What concerns veterans, they can receive effective treatment that frequently leads to fast healing.
The services provided by caregivers are not similar; each of the service should reflect expertise. Actually, the patient is required to depict the changes after receiving the treatment. For a caregiver to be eligible for care services, he or she should be able to improve the condition of the patient within a limited period of time. What is important, the caregiver should be able to create a maintenance program for the therapy. Only skilled caregivers are able to create these kind of programs for the veterans. In addition, only the skilled therapists can conduct the maintenance therapy depending on the condition of the patient.
Homemaking
Devotion to Work
A caregiver can provide few therapies at veterans’ home. However, caregivers should be able to provide physical tasks that are time-consuming. For instance, bathing and feeding the veteran is the work of the caregiver. The caregivers who provide homemaking services stick to the fact that their clients should live comfortably after receiving health and physical assistance from their specialists (Funk et al., 2010). Such a goal can be achieved through a heath program that delivers aid from home, which can be provided by a specific health agency. Surprisingly, many people do not like the services of homemaking. In fact, the homemaking services require experts. In other words, caregivers who provide specialized service should have some free time in order to perform other duties. Such a fact implies that the caregivers should perform such activities as bathing or feeding in the shortest possible time. So, the caregivers are mandated to provide the effective services to their clients.
Socializing
The services of homemaking involve a form of companionship. As a result, the veteran and the caregiver develop a strong social connection and the veteran feels free to communicate. The patients who are free to express their concerns as well as their progress to the service provider often heal within a short period of time. Moreover, the caregiver is entitled to a number of duties such as laundry. The professional can play with the veteran and read to the veteran depending on the nature of the illness. The caregiver also should remind the veteran to take medications and even drive them to routine appointments such as barber or hairdressing. Even though the services can differ from one professional to another, a huge number of caregivers in the homemaking service conduct similar duties (Beales, & Edes, 2009).
Homemaking is an important service to the veterans. However, the quality of the homemaking services depends on the duties, which the caregivers agree to perform. So, not every caregiver can bathe the veterans or take out the garbage. Some caregivers perform specific duties such as preparing the water and reminding the veterans to take bathe. Moreover, homemaking is beneficial because it takes away the loneliness of the patient. The companionship that is created helps to ensure proper nutrition and provide a range of other benefits. The veterans feel the care and love; hence, they are able to heal within the shortest period of time. The homemaking also provides mental stimulation to the veterans (Funk et al., 2010). In other words, the clients do not feel sick any longer and are able to enjoy life as though they were healthy. The fact that the individuals are transported from their homes to other places such as the barbershop or hairdresser, provides them with the opportunity to increase their mobility that delivers relaxation. Sometimes, staying at home for long hours could be boring. Going out and taking strolls with the help of the caregiver makes life more interesting and refreshes client’s mind.
Home Hospice Care
Challenges of Care Giving
Caregivers provide home hospice care to their clients, especially during the latest stages of a disease. However, such type of service is only provided to the clients with the last stage of the disease since support and comfort is required. Caregivers who provide home hospice service face a number of challenges since they are aware that their clients are in the final stages of their life. Therefore, the caregivers should be willing to express hope in order to provide effective services. The experts in this field are found within community hospice agencies. They should be able to provide bereavement advice in order to deal with the family of the client in case he/she passes away. The caregivers should also have the skill to provide grief counseling as affirmed by Funk et al. (2010). The caregivers with these skills are difficult to find since the task is perceived to be difficult by the majority of people.
Handling Stress
Many people are problematic in their last stages of their life. Specifically, people complain about pain or discomfort, depending on the type of the illness. Nevertheless, the caregivers in the field of hospice should be willing to handle stress caused by their work. Moreover, the stress experienced by the client is vested on the caregiver. Some caregivers can care about the veterans who are stressful. For instance, dealing with a disabled individual is challenging, especially in cases when the disability is not inborn. A victim of an accident is too demanding and feels a high level of tension. Therefore, the caregiver should be able to sacrifice adequate time to balance the demands of the work. The caregivers should also deal with the fears of the client as well as their own fears. Such a fact entails taking care of the emotional and physical needs of the client in efforts to provide effective services.
Conclusion
In conclusion. it is important to stress that the caregivers are entitled to provide diverse services, which could help to prolong the veteran’s life. The caregivers are perceived to be the providers of care full of devotion and love. They should also be responsible for providing care-giving roles and honoring a familial obligation. In fact, the caregivers provide numerous services, which include constant supervision, home-based primary care, skilled home care, homemaking, and home hospice care, among others. All these services enable individuals to perform the roles of caregivers and to provide effective care to the clients. Finally, in cases when the care should be hospice, the caregivers need to revisit their work policies in order to provide care-giving duties in stressful atmosphere.
