Best Home Health Care: 10 Signs Your Loved One Needs Home Care

The best home health care means that you are hiring a professional to take care of your loved one in the comfort of their own home. This way, they can always be surrounded by familiar things like their bed, favorite sofa, coffee mug, and neighbors they have known for a long time.

Home health care provides the most personalized care plan tailored to your loved one’s needs and how they live their daily life. They can then cope better while living as normally as possible with a bit of extra support when necessary.

Senior home health care offers the most independence where patients can choose when to sleep, eat, socialize, or meet visitors. You can also participate in your loved one’s care, especially if you live close to them. However, home care for elderly parents is tough to jump into.

Family members may think they do not need any help and may feel offended at the suggestion. Here are the home health care signs to determine when someone needs daily support to avoid overburdening yourself with the stress of looking after someone around the clock.

1. Too Much Clutter

One of the most obvious signs that a loved one is in trouble is when they have a cluttered and messy home. Unless someone has always been untidy, a neglectful home can surprise their families and friends, especially if they were a neat and clean person before.

The next time you pay your loved one a visit, look around and ask yourself how messy their home is compared to the last time you saw them. Are things getting better or worse?

Do they have piles of dirty clothes, stacks of dirty dishes, overgrown grass, and bags of garbage lying around? This is an obvious sign that the person needs the best home health care service because they are too overwhelmed to keep up with day-to-day chores.

To avoid safety issues like a loved one forgetting to replace fire detectors, you should look into senior care to have someone keep an eye on them every day if you are unable to.

2. Questionable Hygiene

Did an elderly family member surprise you with a unique new smell when you celebrated the holidays together? If you notice that someone’s appearance looks off or they smell due to poor hygiene, this is a sign that they need home care support.

Keep a lookout for someone you love wearing soiled clothes or if they have a foul body odor.

3. Issues With Driving

It is challenging to criticize someone’s driving because it is touchy. However, letting someone who cannot drive by themselves get behind the wheel is reckless. That person will be a risk to themselves and others if they go on busy roads.

If someone in your family keeps getting traffic tickets or dents on their car, you should consider hiring home health care for their safety.

The next time your loved one goes for a drive, you should monitor their behavior and alertness on the road. This will help you determine if they need senior care support.

4. Weight Changes

A family member who has suddenly lost a lot of weight since the last time you saw them may not be eating enough. They may have lost the ability to cook and go grocery shopping for themselves.

This is one of the most serious home health care signs because it can mean that your loved one struggles with depression or even basic meal preparation.

Observe their eating and cooking habits. Check if they have the right ingredients at home that are not spoiled.

5. Memory Problems

This is one of the most surefire home health signs to know when someone is in trouble. The last thing you need is having a loved one fall asleep if they have forgotten to turn off the stove after cooking.

Confusion and memory problems can mean that the person is dealing with dementia. This is dangerous because it can also lead them to forget to take their medications and mismanage finances.

6. Ignoring Advice

People who need senior care may neglect their doctor’s advice and avoid medications. This can lead to cognitive and medical issues.

It is necessary to have someone help your loved one organize their medication schedule, especially if a weekly pillbox is required.

You also need an expert to keep up with physician appointments and clear out any expired medications.

7. Social Isolation

Many older adults suffer from loneliness because their family members and friends become too busy to visit. Social isolation has a profound impact on someone’s physical and mental well-being.

This can also lead to depression if your loved one does not get the support they need. With the best home health care service, you can always have peace of mind that someone keeps your family member company to ensure they have someone to talk to.

8. Physical Problems

If someone is losing mobility and cannot dress, bathe, eat, walk, sit, or stand by themselves, they will benefit significantly from home health care.

This is one of the primary reasons most people look towards the best senior care because you need someone to always be with your elderly relative. Otherwise, they cannot get off the bed in the mornings without anyone’s help.

9. Loss of Balance

Falls are a clear sign that someone is not coping well. If you have a loved one who suddenly keeps falling as though they have no control over their body at times, they may be struggling with cognitive problems, wrong medications, poor diet, or physical weakness.

Falling is dangerous for an elderly person because it is the leading cause of disability.

10. Stressed Out

Not being able to look after yourself can make you stressed. Imagine having a wonderful life filled with adventures, only to grow older with mobility issues.

This is why it is difficult for people to admit that they need help. Most patients always believe that they can handle everything if they try harder. However, this can cause a lot of stress and shame, which is why you must pay close to any erratic behavior.

Best Home Health Care Service

Now that you know the 10 signs to indicate when someone needs the best home health care services, you should not worry about taking on these responsibilities yourself.

With a team of compassionate health professionals ready to take a load off your shoulder, you deserve a break. Contact us, and we can start supporting your family today.