Decided to keep a Home/ Physical Attendant for your parents?

Decided to keep a Home/ Physical Attendant for your parents?

If you are a senior or the caregiver of a senior, and you need help to perform activities of daily living, then it is time to look for a physical Attendant. Physical Attendants can help with many activities of daily living all in the comfort of the home so that seniors can continue to enjoy a high quality of living.

Finding the right person to spend a significant part of the day in your home or the home of a loved one is important. The physical Attendants you choose needs to be a good fit with the personality of the person they are caring for.

What Makes a Good Physical Attendants?

 Experience

A good physical Attendant will be experienced. The more experience a physical Attendant has, the more likely it is that they will know exactly how to handle the needs of the person they are caring for.

Ask: What kind of experience do you have as a physical Attendant? What kind of tasks have you performed previously?

References

Along with ample experience, a physical Attendant should also be able to provide several references. If the physical Attendant has good references, then you can be sure that they are good at their job and they are good at supporting seniors.

Ask: Do you have a list of references that we can call?

Training

Not all physical Attendant, even those hired through an agency, are required to undergo any significant amount of training. If you only need a physical Attendants to run errands,cook meals, and perform light housework, then training may not be required.

If you need a physical Attendant to give medication or provide more in-depth care, you may want to ensure that they have been trained to perform these tasks.

Ask: What kind of training have you received? Do you have any certifications?

Compassion And Patience

The personal qualities of a physical Attendant are just as important as their training and ability to perform their duties. A physical Attendant needs to be patient and compassionate with the person they are caring for.

You wouldn’t want someone to run short on patience or understanding with a senior who is already dealing with health challenges.

This goes double for seniors who may be experience memory loss or other cognitive issues.

Ask:Tell me about a time when you were in a challenging situation and how did you deal with it?

Communication Skills

A physical Attendant absolutely must have good communication skills. Part of their role is to provide companionship to the person they care for and they will need good communication skills to fulfill this role.

In addition, good communication skills are an important part of figuring out what a senior needs either through what the person is telling them or what information other caregivers provide.

Ask -If the senior receiving care speaks a language other than English, you may wish to ask the physical Attendant about their proficiency in that language.

Why Are Physical Attendants Important?

Physical Attendant are an important part of providing care for people who need extra support at home. They provide a wide variety of services and support independent living for seniors which improves their quality of life.

1. By hiring a physical Attendant, seniors are able to live in comfort and safety at home longer or indefinitely. Physical Attendant can support seniors in the areas that they need it while allowing them to perform tasks independently that they are still capable of doing safely.

2. Physical Attendants will give seniors peace of mind, knowing that someone is there with them to help if they need it. They will also give the rest of that person’s family peace of mind when they are unable to be with that person.

3. Activities of daily living can be supported at home with Physical attendants. Grooming and bathing can be provided by a physical Attendant. This increases a person’s health, their quality of life, and their enjoyment of it.

4. A physical Attendants can ensure that a person is eating well and eating enough. By monitoring a person’s diet and cooking for them, Physical Attendant can ensure seniors are getting proper nutrition, and they can relay important information to doctors or other caregivers.

5. Physical Attendant also provide companionship. This is especially important for seniors who are unable to get out of their home or who do not have many friends or family nearby who can visit. Companionship can help improve their quality of life and ward of loneliness and depression.

6. A physical Attendant can also help with keeping the home environment hygienic and safe by doing light chores like doing the dishes and vacuuming.

7. If more extensive medical care is needed, some Physical Attendants can provide these services to ensure that seniors are well taken care of and receiving their treatments.

8. Home health care is also typically more affordable than a facility or hospital care. We don’t want to think with our wallet when it comes to health care, but in this case, quality care in the home can be provided at reduced costs. It is a win win.

Does A Physical Attendant Need Certification?

Physical Attendants are not required to hold any specific level of education, and they are not required to get any certification. However, there are training programs that must be completed to be an official physical Attendant. The number of hours of training required generally runs between 120 and 300 hours

Physical Attendant certification is available through many local nursing colleges .

Physical Attendant Skills Checklist

The list of skills required will vary greatly depending on the needs of the person the physical Attendants will be caring for. If a Physical Attendant has gone through a training or certification program, they likely have some knowledge of these tasks, but what you really want to look for is someone who has experience performing them to back up that knowledge.

Skills Checklist

·       How to perform personal hygiene tasks like bathing, teeth brushing, combing hair etc.

·       Physical strength if lifting is required

·       Understanding of medical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes

·       How to use any necessary equipment like oxygen tanks, nebulizers, or wheelchairs

·       How to perform necessary basic medical tasks like changing bandages or changing a colostomy pouch

·       How to cook healthy, well balanced meals.

         How to keep the home environment clean and safe    

         And dont forget to ask  about weekly offs, day offs, personal hygiene, meal preferences etc to prevent any disharmony later