Tag: Senior Care demand

The Role Of A Senior Care Worker

In the health and social care industry, the senior care workers play an important role. Their main job is to ensure the dignity of their clients at all times. Their basic responsibility is to help the seniors in their everyday lives. Senior care is indeed a noble job because workers look after the elderly.

Elderly people nowadays are in need of professionals that can assist them properly. Many elder folks prefer to have an assistant to help them in their daily activities. They deserve to have a comfortable and pleasurable life during their senior stage.

Senior care workers often work in private homes to help the patients with their daily tasks, such as personal grooming and meal preparations. They should be strong and physically fit because they often help their patients get out of bed or lift and turn bed-ridden patients to prevent bedsores. They are not only helping their patients physically but also emotionally because most elderly people need to have a companion to talk with. Patients need feel that they are important and that there is someone willing to listen to their problems.

Senior care workers can also play recreational games with their patients, such as card and board games, in order to keep their patients mentally active and attentive. Even sitting with patients at the backyard while chatting with them can be very beneficial.

Senior care workers should be passionate and dedicated toward their jobs. Aside from that, it is also a physically and emotionally demanding job. But workers can still get satisfaction in caring for the seniors because it is gratifying to offer service to the elderly. It is true that it is not an easy task but many people are choosing this type of career because of their love to serve other people.

Senior Care Job: Preparing for an Interview

Before landing a job as a senior care giver, you will need to undergo an interview. Employers primarily want to determine if you are a perfect candidate for the position. So, how are you able to show that you are the right person for the job?

An interviewer will ask questions about your characteristics. They prefer someone who:

  • is responsible, trustworthy, reliable, empathetic and patient. Since seniors have limited capabilities the aforementioned characteristics are vital. Make sure you have these qualities.
  • is reputable, experienced, and knowledgeable. A good track record of past senior care services is a huge advantage during interviews. They might ask you about your previous client, former responsibilities, and the reason for leaving the position. Remember to put in good references too.
  • who has a positive attitude towards work. You will not be alone in performing senior care services, you will also work with a group of health care professionals. Having qualities that make you easy to work with and enjoyable is a plus factor. Expect questions about your personality and attitude, such as what are your weaknesses and strengths and what do you like and dislike about the job.

Also, prepare yourself with situational questions like what you will do when an emergency occurs, how you can show dignity and respect in life-ending situations, and how you handle difficult patients. If you are able to answer these questions satisfyingly, then you might be a good fit.

As the interview commences, ask the interviewer questions as well. You have the right to know what are the specific needs and personality of the patient, experiences of previous senior care givers with the said patient, schedule of tasks, and any special precautions to take with the elder.

Of course, after the interview, you will need to know if you push through with the job. Decide whether or not you want to work with your employer, the elder patient, working settings, and responsibilities you will perform.

 

Proper Nutrition for Senior

Everyone should know that appropriate nutrition plays a role in our health. This is also true for seniors and individuals who have serious diseases. Terrible physical health, depressive disorders and lonesomeness can also play a vital role in poor eating routine. Many seniors who experience these problems overlook their nutritional needs, and this can result in more severe medical conditions. They may tend to eat more sugary or high cholesterol foods that may lead to diabetes or hypertension.

The food we eat may determine the health of the senior. Thus, it is necessary to monitor the food they eat as part of the senior care program. As an example, it is essential for a person with diabetes to regulate how many sugary and starchy foods in his or her diet and for someone struggling with high blood pressure to cut out salt from their diet. It is of course difficult for a senior to monitor the food that he eats on their own. A physician or a nurse may guide the patient on what is healthy and what is not. Seniors must have good sources of nutrients to sustain their systems and for them to avoid diseases. The healthier they eat, the healthier they become.

The nurse can educate the individual and family the amount of carbohydrates in the food typically eaten by the patient; or the aide will shop for and prepare food with low sodium content, avoiding those that are high in sodium. Getting a proper meal on a daily basis often leads to better nutrition.  It will also avoid unneeded hospitalization thus saving money by avoiding hospital bills and medicines.

Senior Care and Taking Care of Yourself

Being the senior care provider to a parent might not seem like an important problem for some, but once you start to visit with your loved one, care for them and deal with many of the everyday issues that they face, it can become overwhelming at times. Stress is a common element of senior care, for both family members as well as paid professionals. That’s why it is significant to take care of yourself if you are involved in providing senior care. Below are a few tips to mull over that can help you reduce stress and also offer the highest level of care to the elderly individual.

  • senior_careSet a schedule. If you don’t have a set schedule for when you will visit to check on the elderly patient, then you could easily find yourself visiting more and more, without realizing it until you’re giving up a considerable part of your own life. Set a timetable and keep to it. If things change, if the senior’s demands or requirements change, then you can revert to the schedule again, but set a schedule first.
  • Have ‘Me’ time. Too often, family members give up a considerable portion of their life to care for their loved one. They end up putting their own interests on the back burner and this can cause more considerable issues for themselves and the quality of care. So make sure that you allocate time for yourself every week.
  • Learn to unwind. When caring for a parent in need, you may end up worrying more about them when you’re not there with them. While you are certainly doing a good thing by taking care of them, unless they live with you, you can’t be with them every minute of the day. Learn to let go and relieve constant worry. You can do this through meditation, yoga, prayer and other forms of self-help and healing.
  • Find senior care referral services. When you know where to find qualified senior care services, it will help in the event that you’re feeling beleaguered. Hiring a knowledgeable professional is one of the best ways to help care for yourself while providing senior care.

Efforts on Improving Senior Care

Larger mattresses are a big deal in Valley Hospital’s emergency department, as part of its attempt to make a “senior-friendly” ER. At 5 inches thick, the mattresses (changing from the conventional 3-inch-thick ones on the department’s 21 beds) are more comfortable, according to ER employees and help protect patients’ delicate skin. Other new features at Valley and Deaconess emergency departments recognized open houses include easier-to-use call control buttons, floor-gripping footwear and yellow-colored dresses that alert employees to seniors’ greater risk of falling and seniors-only vehicle parking areas or valet service.

senior_careAlong with making clients happier, the changes at both medical centers are developed to cut the number of seniors’ return trips and the duration of their medical center stay, Valley CEO Tim Moran informed a group gathered at the medical center to see the developments. The medical centers, part of the region’s Rockwood Health System and owned by Community Health Systems Inc., have been making the changes as more sufferers age and as the Affordable Care Act places a new focus on enhanced ER care and senior care. Under the new health care law, emergency departments have some new reasons, financial rewards and disincentives to enhance care, said Dr. John Tilson, medical directors of Valley Hospital’s emergency department.

Among disincentives, Dr. Tilson said the center is compensated less to cure sufferers who continue to come back to the ER, especially in the first 30 days after their first visit. The idea is that if emergency departments better deal with patients’ health-related problems, assisting them set up better support at home, for example, they can avoid upcoming conditions and accidents. How much an ER gets refunded by medical health insurance also will rely partially on how quickly sufferers get services and their fulfillment with their care, Tilson said. In 2012, people 65 and older showed nearly 17% of Valley’s emergency department trips and nearly 20% at Deaconess. More senior sufferers are required as middle-agers age. While the first trend of senior care emergency departments or specific senior departments within ERs in the U.S. started out just a few years ago, senior care is getting more attention among emergency doctors in the U.S., Tilson said. Some ERs in areas with large senior communities are building entire departments in their emergency departments for older people, he said: “It’s just taken off.”

Senior Care and the Role of Lawmakers

Underfunded elderly care facility has been a major task to the senior care and state recently and will continue to be resolved in the future, many law makers and medical experts estimate. During the last session of the Minnesota Legislature, elderly care facility regulation was implemented, creating a 5 percent across-the-board increase. That activity by the Legislature showed the first increase in financing in the past five years. Nursing home employees have had their income freezing since 2008 and will now be seeing a rise in income come September 1, 2013. Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, said, of the $83 million it will cost for four years, $74 million was reprocessed out of the senior care facility market.

“Workers will see an increase, but it will come out of the other elderly care facility cash that was reprocessed,” Abeler said. “It’s like taking your wallet out of your right pocket and putting it into your left pocket and saying, ‘I’ve got some cash now,’” Abeler said. “The program is hungry for cash and we cannot give the people a good increase because of the demands about minimum salary,” Abeler continued. Abeler, last session, served as the ranking Republican on the Health and Human Services Finance Committee. He chaired the committee the two past years with Republicans being in authority control.

Gayle Kvenvold, president and CEO of Aging Services of Minnesota, said needs of assisted living facilities have not been effectively resolved by the Legislature and by others. The activity by the Legislature “was a step in the right direction and we are thankful for it, but our job is not done,” Kvenvold said. On the average, the distinction between what it costs to manage a senior is a deficiency of $28 per day, Kvenvold said. She said it will take more than one legal session to make up that difference. Aging Services of Minnesota is the state’s biggest organization of getting senior care services companies. Its account involves more than 1,000 participant companies such as 700-plus company participant sites. In cooperation with its members, the organization works with more than 50,000 care suppliers throughout the state and provides more than 100,000 elderly people each year in configurations across the continuum from their house to assemble real estate to assisted living to senior care facilities. Patti Cullen, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota, said the legal activity in 2013 showed a significant improvement and is a “good start.”

Growth of In-Home Senior Care

The impressive number of elderly people across the nation opting to stay in their own houses as they age is developing a positive impact on the economy, driving growth not only for businesses that are dedicated to various aspects of senior care, but also resulting in significant job creation. By 2020, the rankings of house wellness and individual care aides will have grown by more than 1.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BrightStar Care, a full-service house care series that provides both healthcare and non-medical care to sufferers from babies to elderly people, has hired more than 23,000 people since 2011, developing 10,000-12,000 jobs each season, with programs to create 60,000 new jobs over the next five years.

senior_careIn addition, according to majority of folks by the U.S. Census Bureau, the healthcare market generated $1.7 billion dollars in complete revenue this year and included nearly 17 million jobs across the United States. BrightStar Care is supporting these statistics with 258 franchised and corporate locations across 36 states. In total, BrightStar Care utilizes more than 16,000 healthcare teams, certified nursing assistants (CNAs), and home health aides (HHAs), including 2,000 RNs, 2,300 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs). Nearly all adults over the age of 50 feel that staying in their own houses as they age is important, according to a latest survey by AARP. With the demand for in-home senior care rising, in addition to the fact that the in-home healthcare profession provides flexible working hours and the ability to develop strong, individual relationships with sufferers, the market is growing.

“Each year, more and more elderly people are starting the process of ‘ageing in place’,” explained Shelly Sun, Co-Founder and CEO of BrightStar Care. “At the same time, many healthcare teams are looking into alternative career options to working in a hospital. BrightStar Care is one of the only in-home healthcare care businesses that provide highly-skilled therapy to sufferers in their houses, allowing healthcare teams to utilize their skills in a non-traditional, growing sector of the market.” BrightStar Care identifies a need within the healthcare care market for homecare solutions that offer high-level, medical skills. Consumers are looking for expert and sympathetic care that only BrightStar Care provides.