A common complaint among family members who are caring for an aging parent who is starting to require daily help is their lack of regular and proper grooming habits, which can lead to frustration and anger and eventually contribute to unhealthy and unsanitary conditions in the home.
Caregiver in Seabrook TX: Senior Hygiene
There are many reasons why a senior may need improvement in the hygiene and grooming department, including limited mobility, cognitive impairment, denial that they need help, or even feelings of embarrassment.
While you may notice an obvious need for better hygiene, such as a need for better showering or bathing techniques, clipping of the nails, laundering and changing of clothing, or removal and cleaning of soiled items such as blankets and bedsheets, your senior may seem oblivious to those signs, or they may be resistant to taking any action to improve the situation.
One of the biggest benefits of hiring caregivers through a home care company is that they are specifically trained to come into a senior’s home and help them with tasks such as these things that may be your biggest issues or concerns.
They are familiar with seniors that don’t want or think that they need help, and they have special tactics and tips that they employ along with compassionate and professional care to get the hygiene needs of your parent under control.
If you are tired of arguing with your parent about their grooming habits, are unable to physically get them to bathe or shower or maybe just do not have the time, and are dealing with sanitation issues that have gotten out of control, it may be time to call in the expert advice of local caregivers through a home care company to see how they can help.
Sometimes having trained caregivers, who are compassionate with the needs of the elderly, and who are not related to your senior parent or loved one, can help them with their grooming abilities if modesty is an issue that was preventing them from allowing you to help.
Other things that you can do to help with hygiene at home:
-Install safety bars and benches in the bathroom and in other areas where your parents may have difficulty pulling themselves up or balancing.
-Offer towels or other small, lightweight blankets to allow your senior to cover themselves in vulnerable situations like bathing or using the toilet.
-Offer products designed as bath aids like waterless soap and wipes specifically made for the convenience of the elderly for times in between showers.
-Purchasing and installing a hand-held showerhead can also make showers easier and quicker for seniors that may not like bathing.
-Use non-slip mats in and around areas where water is likely to be used, to make your parent feels comfortable in those areas and more likely to utilize them.
Let them do their best. Their standards for personal hygiene may not be the same as yours, but as long as they are practicing a regular routine and cleaning the important areas thoroughly, that may have to be “good enough.” Let their caregivers step in and do the rest and feel good about the fact that they will teach your senior the best practices for good self-care.