Adult / Aged Care
Bringing a professional caregiver for the elderly in your house can be quite a task. As basic human tendency makes us choose the best in every situation, similarly we want the most experienced and trained caregiver when it comes to leveraging the service for our own family member. However, the definition of the “best” professional caregiver is translucent for some families, resulting in making wrong choices most of the time, though unintentionally.
No matter what type of caregiver you may wish to appoint, there are some important traits and qualities that should never be overlooked in order to provide the best and the most comforting experience to the elderly in-home. When you can identify that the trained attendant for in-home care has these qualities, you know that your loved one is in safe hands.
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Here are the top 8 qualities of a Professional Caregiver for Elderly you must consider while hiring a trained attendant or caretaker for seniors in the house:
Table of Contents
1. Expertise
For a professional caregiver for the elderly, their academic expertise in the form of qualifications and certifications are of utmost importance. Checking the training and certifications that they have acquired so far in their career ensures the quality and safety of the service your elderly family member is going to get.
2. Experience
Always try and find a professional caregiver who has a sufficient number of years of experience with monitoring the specific health conditions that your loved one is undergoing for add-on benefits. For example, if your family member has diabetes. The appointed caregiver should be very familiar with proper monitoring of blood sugar, giving proper treatment prescribed by the specialists when sugar levels reach away from the normal range, making them adhere to the diet plans and other care needed for a diabetic patient. This way, you can ensure timely treatments and avoidance of last-minute panic situations.
3. Communicator of par excellence
Communications with the elderly, specifically, need to be conducted very consciously in order to make them feel encouraged in conveying their message, especially when they’re having trouble in expressing themselves. Clear pronunciation and speaking slowly can be very helpful for both parties to understand each other. The caregiver should also know the language with which the elderly is most comfortable to communicate in, including sign languages and other non-verbal communication techniques (such as gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, etc.).
4. High Patience Level
Old age is often thought of as the second childhood wherein the thoughts and actions of the person are unpredictable and uncontrollable. Thus, in order to deal with the elderly, the caregiver has to have a high patience level. Most of the time situations arise wherein things may not go as smoothly as being planned or there may be changes in the plans. The caregiver should be patient in handling such situations with the utmost care.
5. Compassionate
When the caregiver has compassion for the person they’re serving, they’ll be able to understand what the person is going through is a better way. This helps them in providing the service as per the patient’s needs and requirements, supporting them emotionally and connecting with them more effectively.
6. Trustworthy
Most of the time caregivers have the access to the personal belongings of the patient they’re caring for. Thus, it is very important that the caregiver should be trustworthy, who will not breach the trust in any manner. Many families also conduct a background check, ID proof verification, etc. for the caregiver for gaining the confidence that no compromise will be made with their loved one’s care from the caregiver’s end.
7. Empathy
“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.” – Daniel H. Pink
The caregiver should empathize with the person he/she is caring for in order to understand what the person is dealing with. This gives them the ability to understand the person’s feelings and in this way, the person also starts sharing his/her experiences with the caregiver more comfortably.
8. Professionalism
The caregiver should have a certain level of professionalism, i.e., they should always be on time, neatly dressed, and always on their toes to assist the patient for agreed-upon duties. They shouldn’t be sharing their personal problems or needs with the person they’re caring for, no matter how strong a relationship has been formed between the two.
