One area that your elderly family member might be reluctant to share that she needs some extra help is personal hygiene. These are tasks related to bathing, grooming, and brushing hair and teeth. If your elderly family member’s health has made these tasks more difficult, she may need more help, such as personal care at home, than you realize. Addressing the situation head-on helps to make sure that your elderly family member is safe and that she doesn’t experience adverse effects from skipping hygiene entirely.
Talk to Your Senior about What Is Becoming More Challenging
Whether your senior mentions to you that personal hygiene is becoming more difficult or you notice on your own that some things have changed, you need to address the situation. It just isn’t optional for your elderly family member to avoid bathing or changing clothes. Her overall health and well-being depend on her being able to have these tasks handled. Sit down and have an open and loving conversation with your senior about what challenges she’s experiencing and what she needs. From there you can start to put together a plan to address those challenges.
Get Tools That Help Her to Stick to Her Routine Safely
One of the biggest issues for your senior may be that she just doesn’t feel safe in the bathroom anymore. There are a wide range of different tools that your senior may find useful. Things like non-slip shower mats help her to avoid slipping while showering, while long-handled shower wands ensure that she’s able to reach all of her body. You may also want to consider installing grab bars in the shower and around the bathroom. Shower seats are another option that allows your senior to rest while she bathes.
Adapt Her Routine if That Helps Keep Her Safer
Start considering other ideas, too. Does your senior truly need to shower every single day, or could she maybe move to showering every other day? Reducing some of the stress she may be putting on herself by adjusting her routine a bit can help her to feel more confident. There could also be other ways to adjust her hygiene routines. If getting dressed is more difficult now, some changes to her wardrobe could make that a lot easier. Clothing that pulls on instead of using a lot of different fasteners can be more comfortable for her.
Bring in Personal Care at Home to Help Even More
It’s also possible for you to hire elder care providers to help your senior with personal care tasks. Although this can be an embarrassing idea for your senior at first, having someone else there with her ensures that she’s handling hygiene tasks safely. Personal care at home won’t keep your senior from caring for herself when she’s able to do so. They’re just there to help out when and where they’re needed.
When you and your elderly family member work together to put a plan together, her personal hygiene routine can still get handled safely. That can reduce a lot of stress and anxiety for your senior.
If you or an aging loved one is considering Personal Care at Home in Fitzgerald, GA, please contact the caring staff at South GA Family Care today. 229-299-8766