How Caregivers Make a Difference

A caregiver is an individual that dedicates their time and energy to helping their loved ones, or their clients, during a challenging time in their lives. Caregivers usually spend their days ensuring their loved ones are comfortable, safe and happy. Time spent with their clients may vary from 7 days a week to a few times a week, depending on the clients’ needs. There are several reasons why an individual may need a caregiver such as they may have cancer, they may be of old age or they simply may have an ailment that prevents them from taking care of themselves. A caregiver comes into their clients’ lives and seeks to improve their quality of life.

How do Caregivers Make a Difference?

Caregivers are perhaps some of the most selfless and charitable people in the world, as their sole mission is to help others. By having caregiver support come into their home through in-home care agencies, elderly individuals or those in need will be able to feel safe in their own home, while ensuring they are in good hands in terms of their health and well-being. Having a caregiver on hand allows the individual who is receiving care to have a quality of life that he or she would not be able to have without the help of a professional caregiver. There are several ways that caregivers make huge differences in the people that they care for, such as:

• Medication reminders and management not only allows the caregiver to assist their patient with the medication that he or she needs to take, but they can be there to ensure that the individual does not have a negative reaction or side effect of the medicine. It is important that an in-home caregiver is aware of the medical history of the client and by the caregiver doing their research and being diligent, they could ensure the individual is feeling their best by keeping them on their proper medication schedule. Additionally, a caregiver could actually save their clients’ lives by ensuring their medications are not being mixed in a dangerous or lethal way.
• Personal care allows the individual and their family members to feel as though personal hygiene is a top priority that will not be neglected due to inability to care for oneself. Unfortunately, as people both age and progress in their illnesses, they may be unable to care for themselves and keep up with their personal hygienic routine. This can cause a plethora of health issues and problems for the client, which the caregiver can actually help mitigate. Caregivers are able to be there to help with bathing, toileting, dressing and grooming, which will allow the client to maintain a clean and healthy personal hygienic routine. Not only will this help their client physically, but it may lift the individuals spirits as well! When someone looks good and is clean, they feel good, which can overall improve their quality of life and their mood!
• Companionship services allow caregivers and their clients to bond with each other, which likely stems from spending so much time together over a prolonged period of time. As individuals get older, he or she may start to experience the loss of their friends or perhaps they are unable to get out of the house and socialize the way they used to. Eventually that loneliness will turn into depression and it may manifest into a health issue that is beyond the individual’s control.
• Light housekeeping is an imperative way for a caregiver to make a difference in their clients’ lives. Similar to personal care services, light housekeeping allows the individual to remain healthy and happy, which will improve their quality of life. These tasks include maintaining a sanitary & functional environment, organization of clutter, taking out the trash, laundry and doing dishes. By maintain a healthy, functional and organized environment, a caregiver can not only make a difference in the lives of their clients, but in the lives of the client’s family and friends who may be worried about their loved ones in an unsafe environment.

As aforementioned, one of the biggest ways that a caregiver can make a difference in the lives of those they serve is by providing a service that will give the family members and friends of the patient peace of mind that their loved one is in good hands. By taking the time to care for this individual, not only are they giving them the ability to live a happy, fulfilled and healthy life, but they are giving their support system a chance to take a break from worrying about their family member or friend. Respite care is one of the most impactful services that a caregiver provides, which will improve the overall family and friend unit and their attitudes towards the situation. A caregiver may be hired to help the patient initially, but their impact spans across several different people in the familial unit, as they touch many lives by providing caregiving services to their clients. Not only is it important for the seniors to get care, in order to live a longer and happier life in the comfort of their own home, but it is important for the family to feel supported during this otherwise chaotic and stressful time in their lives.

Caregivers can make an extremely large impact on the lives of the clients they serve, the community that they support and the families that they come in contact with. Caregivers are gentle, compassionate, kind and generous human beings that devote their time to ensuring other people are happy, healthy and living a life that they deserve.