Aging is an inevitable part of life and elders look forward to spending their retired lives in bliss and serenity. Truly, they deserve this reward after a demanding phase full of personal and professional commitments. But old age brings along many challenges including health issues and difficulties in managing self-care also. They certainly need some external support from family or other caregivers to lead an independent life with dignity.
Prevailing health conditions in seniors may call for proper medication management, continuous monitoring of health parameters, balanced nutrition and physical activity to remain fit. In today’s hectic lifestyle, family members may not be able to take proper care of elders. This need compels for proper clinical assistance in the form of nursing care for the elderly.
Though many elderly care homes are available, many seniors prefer to receive clinical help and treatment right at home. Hence, home skilled nursing care has assumed a new dimension. Fortunately, many senior care options offer promising support to the older generation in this context. Athulya Home Healthcare is a premium care offering that delivers dedicated geriatric nursing services right at your doorstep.
What is nursing care at home?
Nursing care at home encompasses a wide spectrum range of services that can be delivered to a patient with individual needs. It could be supported, in terms of physical, mental, emotional aspects, or a combination of these.
The various categories of patients who are likely to need assistance are people with
- Chronic illnesses
- Complications and comorbidities
- Permanent or long-term disabilities
- Special needs
- Injuries or medical conditions like surgery that need post-operative care
Apart from this, senior citizens, mostly above seventy years of age, are likely to require some form of external help to do routine activities. If you have an elderly loved one at home, there may be some signs that call for nursing support as listed below.
Watch out closely for those ‘Red Flags’
- Low quality of life, particularly poor personal hygiene and self-grooming
- Modifications in routine behavioural patterns
- Symptoms of depression, anxiety and loneliness
- Inability to perform personal daily living activities independently
- Negligence toward a healthy diet and sound sleep
- Frequent episodes of trips and falls
- Lack of concentration and poor memory
- Poor physical health and stamina including unexplained weight loss or obesity
Benefits of Nursing Care at home
- Boosts mental health and cognition – Enhanced emotional rapport and familiarity play a vital role in positively influencing the mental health and cognitive capabilities of elders. The tranquil and known surrounding of a home reduces uncertainty and evades the fear of the unknown. This plays a crucial role in postponing the onset of mental diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Facilitates complete family involvement in patient care – The physical proximity of the family allows them to be closely involved and informed in the treatment of their loved one. They can spend time with the patient without the constraints of visiting hours and get the latest health updates. It also fosters better communication, coordination and decision-making between the caregiver, the medical team and the family. This can have a tremendous positive influence on the psychological well-being of the patient particularly in cases of dementia.
- Delivers very specialised and person-centric care for best outcomes – In-house care can be highly customised to suit the patient’s medical conditions, needs and preferences. So, the best possible clinical support and assistance is given depending on the type and extent of dependency. This enables your loved one to experience more security, comfort and nurturing under the hands of the caregiver. Besides, the one-on-one attention significantly helps in building a genuine bond between the two and expedites faster recovery.
- Reduces healthcare costs – The family of patients needing long-term medical support will have to incur heavy expenditures due to hospitalization expenses, commuting costs and other overheads. They also have to bear the physical and mental burden of frequent hospital visits. On the contrary, home nursing is more cost-effective and affordable. It becomes the best viable option wherein the caregiver charges are based on the specific patient needs and time spent with the latter is more effective.
- Safeguards patients from hospital-acquired infections – Most patients are fragile and lack strong immunity. Thus, they are likely to be prone to infections and communicable diseases in hospital settings or nursing homes. Home-based nursing thwarts this risk as the patient can receive the required treatment at home wherein all standards of cleanliness and hygiene can be well maintained.
You may kindly look at Athulya Senior Care at Kochi to further explore and understand this. We provide one-of-a-kind comprehensive Home Healthcare Services in Kochi. Our team has highly qualified doctors, therapists and counsellors who scrupulously handle the medical needs of elderly lives. We also have exclusively trained staff for rendering home nursing services in Kochi. Athulya’s home care plans are carefully designed and highly customised to deliver compassionate care at every milestone of the aging process. Certainly, our elders deserve to experience this holistic healing in the golden years, is it not?
Information: This blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for any treatment or diagnosis. Seek professional help in case of any emergency. Athulya is not responsible for any consequences.
