When your aging loved one needs a little extra assistance or support, you might find yourself stepping into a caregiving role. And you aren’t alone. About 25% of adults have done some type of family caregiving for a senior loved one, and most don’t have any instruction on best practices before beginning their caregiver role.
If you are at the beginning of your family caregiving journey, or if you have been doing it for a while and are “learning on the job”, you can benefit from a few of our tips about how to assist with certain activities of daily living. Activities of daily living, or ADLs, are the tasks we all do to take care of ourselves each day, including bathing or showering, grooming, dressing, eating, transferring, and ambulation.
Here are a few tips to help out with personal care tasks with your loved one, whether it be showering, dressing, or grooming.
Don’t Do More Than They Need
Perhaps the biggest challenge for family caregivers is to know when to step in and assist and when to step back and allow the senior to do a task (or part of a task) on their own. Your goal should always be to promote independence, giving your loved one the chance to perform their own activities of daily living as independently and safely as possible.
If you aren’t sure what your loved one can do, try standing by during the task so you can see when they struggle and when they are fine. Remember though, a bit of struggle doesn’t mean you need to step in right away. For example, if your mom is having a hard time buttoning her blouse, she might just need some encouragement to keep trying. You might also consider purchasing blouses with magnetic clasps instead of buttons to help her maintain that independence.
Verbal Cueing Is Your First Step
Focus on using your words first, whether it is to give encouragement or a cue for what comes next. Verbal cues can help someone know what is coming next or what to focus on while they complete the task on their own. Examples of verbal cues might be:
- Go ahead and grab your toothbrush next, Dad.
- Here’s your red blouse, Mom. I love that you chose this one to go with your skirt!
- Can you try to pull up your socks one more time? I’m here to help.
Safety Always
While focusing on independence is important, it is also crucial to keep your loved one’s safety at the forefront of all your interactions. Do your best to ensure you have all the supplies you need for a task ahead of time so that you don’t have to leave your loved one in order to go grab the bottle of shampoo or another pair of socks. Also, keep your communication clear and always talk about what you’re going to do before you do it so that your loved one is aware of what comes next.
Know When to Ask for Help
Personal care tasks can be an intimate and vulnerable time to share with your loved one, and you both might not feel the most comfortable or safe during the tasks. That’s ok. Asking for help with personal care task assistance can be the best thing to do for your loved one’s safety, your peace of mind, and your relationship.
At CaringGivers, our care team is trained to support seniors in their homes with personal care tasks and more. We are there to assist them with activities of daily living so that family members don’t have to take on that extra responsibility or feel obligated to help. Contact us to learn more about our services and how to get started.