Yes. Even if adult children or other relatives live too far away to visit Amite everyday, home care is still an option. With our Hammond-area office, a Care Plan can help to support the routines the family needs to support the parent while the family visits. This plan is focused around the parents’ preferences and independence and helps to support their current habits.
Families in Amite and Independence should not assume that living outside a large city means in-home support is unavailable. Our Amite service area falls in the area served by our Hammond office.
This brings the question to what could be actually be helpful during the days the family can’t be there.
Which Routines Can Be Covered Between Family Visits?
With home care in Amite, LA, we can help support the parts of the day that an older adult needs an extra set of hands. This could mean we help with one step of a routine, and does not mean we take over the entire routine.
Your parent may still prepare breakfast, choose their clothes, manage their hobbies, and make lots of other decisions for themselves. We can support the areas that have become more difficult or tiring, based on the Care Plan.
This may include help with routines such as:
- Meal preparation
- Companionship and conversation
- Assistance with light housework
- Personal care
- Reminders and support with previously established daily routines
- Assistance getting through parts of the day that have become more difficult to manage on one’s own
Take a look at the complete range of Home Instead home care services to see the options available.
I recommend families try to address the concerns of the week that lies ahead, as opposed to trying to address all the concerns that they may have in the future.
What is it that happens on Monday morning? Who prepares the lunch? What tasks accumulate by Friday? Is your parent at ease being alone or do you believe that there is a need for constant companionship?
These types of questions draw up a more useful Care Plan than asking “What level of help do your parents need?”
The purpose is to help the routines that are needed and important, while giving the parent the ability to take on those parts of engagement that they wish to do.
How can the Care Plan help organize tasks and instructions without overwhelming the Care Plan?
A useful Care Plan describes major events and touchpoints within the household routine without the exhaustive description of the parent’s daily activities.
If you are further from Amite it is easy to fall into the trap of writing everything. I suggest taking what is needed by the Care Pro versus what is helpful, but not needed background.
You'll need to provide a little background to begin:
- Daily requirements. Make a note of the routines that will require input.
- Habits. Deflect not Nicole's preferences. Choose the one that sucks the most: preferred meal time or how to sequence chores.
- Things. Write down sensible household why-dos that will help with the agreed care.
- Calls. Pick the family member that will answer the calls that will ROUET, or routine updates and unexpected changes.
- Messages. This should be a summary of the things you'd like communicated, because everything that happens isn't important enough to communicate.
Dad likes to be included in discussions, even if remote family members live far away. Grandma will always be grandma.
It's best as well to avoid having The Care Plan become a set of instructions pertaining to every single task. A familiar routine that Grandma likes is usually easier to manage than one based on what relatives would do if they lived nearby.
How should updates flow when family lives far away?
When you can't go to Amite each day, careful planning of how routine support will be provided is essential.
Prior to the start of care, the main contact should be determined, as well as the family member that will be kept inform of routine activities, and the family member that will be contacted when interventions are required.
I would frame these types of questions:
- Who are you including in routine care updates?
- Who are you including as priority people to contact if we need to change plans?
- What are some considerations for plan changes that you would like communicated?
- When should family members be contacted about plan changes versus directly contacting your parent?
- Who is on the medical side of calls for non-medical home care?
It's important to set expectations. This avoids family members contacting your parent assuming they can make decisions for your parent, and respects your parent’s independence.
For families supporting from a distance, our Hammond service area can clarify which local office is covering the responsibility.
What Services Still Require Family, Medical, or Emergency Involvement?
There are limitations to non-medical home care. It can assist with routine activities of daily living, personal care, and other agreed upon non-medical support, but it cannot provide nursing, medical or emergency care.
If your parent requires any of the following, such as injections, wound care, administration of medications, clinical assessment and monitoring, and/or other medical services, it is likely a non-medical support care worker is not sufficient.
Sometimes, a combination of home care and home health care services are both warranted.
There are some choices we wouldn't expect Care Pros to make on behalf of a family. These include making decisions on medical treatments, making major financial choices, making changes to arrangements that are legal, and making some emergency choices. This includes decisions regarding the provision of non-medical home care.
In the event a situation is a true medical emergency, home care should not be used as a substitute for calling 911.
This is especially important when family members live away. Everyone should know who is responsible for providing support on a daily basis and for meeting the family member’s needs for health care, and who to contact in the event something falls outside the Care Plan.
It is important to your parent and your family that the lines are clear about who is responsible for what to care providers as well.
Home Care in Amite, LA
Is Home Instead home care available in Amite?
Home Instead home care is available. Just because Amite is a smaller town does not mean home care is inaccessible. Home Instead serves families based on location and the care needed.
When do I contact Home Instead care if I live out of town?
Home care is able to provide support to your family member on a consistent basis without daily visits from family members. We ask that a contact is selected to be the family's main point of contact. We ask that you determine how communications will be handled, and which decisions your parent wants to maintain control over.
Does my parent need help with everything before we consider home care?
No. With home care, some tasks can be taken over so your parent can focus on the other tasks they can handle on their own. With a Care Plan, we want to know the things your parent genuinely needs help with to help them feel in control and not spending the whole day doing things they don’t want to do.
What should I do before talking with the Hammond office?
To prepare, consider your week and plan out your routine. Include any challenges that may occur along with the helpful routines, times when family can visit and any gaps that may occur. The office will appreciate you talking with your parent about the types of help that would assist them the most and any routine tasks they would rather do on their own.
Is Home Instead the same as home health or skilled nursing?
No. Home Instead provides non-medical home care. It does not replace skilled nursing, clinical treatment, emergency services, or other medical care. For wounds, injections, clinical monitoring and administration of medication these services should not be provided by Home Instead.
How do we know what to include in a Care Plan?
What matters most is identifiying the areas of the week and tasks that need support. Always include what your parent has agreed to, preferences for household tasks, and expectations for contact and communication. This is not a list of every routine task in the home.
To set up home care in Amite, LA, because you cannot visit your parent every day, call our Hammond office to see what a typical week is like for your parent. Our caring staff can assist you to determine if home care fits within their day to day routines. Doing so allows your parent to have as much input as possible. You can learn about Home Instead and hear about our unique local services for quality care.
About the Author
Matt Cohn has spent more than 25 years helping older adults and their families find the right support to remain safe and comfortable at home. He is the owner of the Home Instead location serving Hammond and surrounding Louisiana communities, and he works closely with families and care professionals through the decisions that come with aging and in-home care.
