Posted in Age care

For elderly people who choose to age at home instead of inside aged care facilities, maintaining a home is a lot of work, particularly if you’re still living in a larger family home that you have had for years. As we enter old age it can often become difficult to continue with domestic duties and the upkeep of your home to the standard you once did, often leading to your house being left in a state of neglect.

For older residents, a clean, uncluttered house and backyard is an important part of life and imperative to their personal hygiene and safety. A Southcare aged care worker is able to support and work with you to continue to maintain your home. Unlike a cleaner, your aged care worker duties and responsibilities focus on your health and safety as the priority when completing tasks. They work with you to develop and maintain the independence you require to continue to remain living happily within your own home, while providing relevant full time or part time support and assistance around the home.

The Importance of Remaining Independent

Do you find gardening peaceful? Maybe you have a great sense of pride in your roses that you have been nurturing for years. Is organising your craft room a past time of yours? As you grow older, do you still have a passion for cooking and baking and enjoy being in the kitchen regularly? It is important to understand that your in-home aged care worker does not want to take away your independence within your own home. Instead, aged care workers are there to provide companionship, emotional support and are committed to assist you in being independent to continue to do the things that you love and enjoy. Our clients are encouraged to carry on with normal day to day activities to maintain their sense of independence.

When you first begin receiving services with Southcare, your Home Care Coordinator will have a chat with you to get to know what personal care and individual support you specifically require and what daily duties you can continue to do yourself. Your aged care worker will take great care to ensure you continue doing the jobs you are able to to assist in giving you a sense of purpose and independence. However, if certain essential tasks or domestic duties are becoming harder to access or more difficult, your aged care worker is able to provide support and assistance to help make these tasks and bigger jobs easier.

For example, if you love to cook but find the repetitive actions of cutting up vegetables painful on your wrists, your aged care worker would be able to come in and assist you with preparing meals, such as chopping vegetables. Then you can use the pre-prepared food to create your own meals throughout the week. If you enjoy tidying your home, your aged care worker is able to come in and provide assistance by completing the regular cleaning, vacuuming and mopping, while you continue to dust, wipe surfaces and tidy the house. These support services ensure you’re able to continue with a task you enjoy but takes away the strain and physical demands that the task can cause.

Continuing to be active with general daily tasks and duties around the house is a great way for elderly people to remain both physically and mentally fit in their later stages of life.

What Your Aged Care Worker Will Help You With

Depending on the type of care that you require and the level of Home Care Package that you currently receive, there is a wide range of aged care services that your aged care worker is able to help you with. Some of the most common Home Care Services aged care workers provide include:

  • Emotional Support & Personal care – dressing, grooming, administering medications and welfare visits
  • Transport Services – medical appointments, grocery shopping and local community activities/social outings/events for families
  • Domestic Assistance & Home Maintenance – meal preparation, washing, vacuuming, house cleaning etc
  • Social Support – social events, movies, day trips and social activities
  • Garden maintenance – minor maintenance and management to keep you safe in your garden
  • Community Visitors Scheme – provide companionship visits
  • Respite – a break for your carer from their regular role
  • Dementia Services – specialised care, attention and supporting services for older people suffering from Dementia

Though the above services are the most common that Southcare provide to its clients, we also have a range of less regular or common services that our support workers can arrange for our elderly clients with local service providers on your behalf.

  • Major Gardening Services – major clean up, lawn mowing and edging, reticulation, skip bins and tree lopping
  • Medical Services & Ageing Support – registered nurse services on call, podiatry at home, occupational therapy at home, light physiotherapy exercises, physio programs at home, mental health issues, medical equipment and exercise services
  • Trade and Maintenance Contractors – air-conditioning and refrigeration, electrical, locksmith, pest control, plumbing, home modifications and vacuum cleaner service and repair.
  • Special Home Care Services – blind and curtain cleaning services, carpet, tile and rug cleaning, gutter cleaning services, spring cleaning, laundry services and window cleaner services

It is important for our clients to understand that the above common list of services are regularly provided by Southcare aged care workers. These are the tasks that your aged care worker is in a position to be able to provide to assist you in the general up keep of your home to keep it safe, tidy and well presented and to keep you living independently. These services also assist elderly people to live independently, maintain their general wellbeing and personal hygiene when certain tasks may become too difficult to complete on their own and require assistance.

Why It’s Important To Understand Your Aged Care Workers Role

It’s important to know what services and resources your aged care worker is able to provide to ensure you understand their role in providing support and assisting you in your daily living. Having clear and realistic expectations about your services helps us ensure we are able to provide you with the level of service you are happy with and that you were expecting when you initially signed up with Southcare.

Further Information About Our High Quality Home Care Services

If you have any questions about the services aged care workers provide, support services you receive or would like to receive any additional services it is important you contact the team of compassionate people at Southcare. Give us a call on 9450 6233 and ask to have a chat to your dedicated Home Care Coordinator. They will be able to review your level of aged care services and what quality home care services you currently receive and make adjustments to these personalised services to suit your needs.

Are you interested in becoming an aged care support worker or personal carer? Want a rewarding career in the growing aged care sector, providing companionship and support to the elderly? To become an aged care worker, contact Southcare today or view our careers page and learn how becoming an aged care worker in the aged care industry provides you with future growth & job opportunities while making a real difference in the lives of aged people.

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