How Having a Home Care Aide Can Help Seniors with Depression
Home Care in Amberley OH: How Having a Home Care Aide Can Help Seniors with Depression
If you are the family caregiver for an aging parent, you will undoubtedly have felt depression at times. Caregiving is a rewarding job, but it can be a difficult and painful one at times as well. Your aging parent may feel depression too, as they enter a phase in life where they are not able to do certain tasks by themselves anymore and they aren’t relied on as much for help by the rest of the family.
You might be surprised to learn, though, that home care aides can actually be a great help to seniors with depression. They are not therapists, but in many cases, their presence in the home can create a better sense of calm, which is something you might not expect.
One of the first ways that a home care aide can help to relieve depression in both seniors and their family caregivers is simply the fact that they are not a part of the family. Some older men and woman find it embarrassing to have to rely on the child they raised to help them with daily tasks like getting dressed, showing, and using the bathroom. A home care aide, though, is a neutral, unrelated third party. They are a professional, hired solely for the purpose of helping the senior. This will greatly reduce the amount that they have to rely on their own children in moments that might be seen as embarrassing by them, which can help to improve their self-esteem and lower their depression.
Another way that home care aides can help fight depression is by cooking the senior healthy meals and limiting their junk food intake. Junk food might make one happy for the moment while they are eating it, but overall, it does nothing for your health, and can greatly increase the depth and recurrence of depression. If a home care aide is in the home, it is a part of their job to cook healthy meals for your loved one, which can help them to stay healthier and feel better both physically and mentally.
Lastly, a home care aide can be helpful simply by just being there to assist, and to keep the senior company. Seniors often feel lonely, because they are bound by the illnesses that they have and cannot go out in the world as much as they used to. Home care aides, though, are there to keep them company, and to give them someone to talk to. In addition to this, the fact that they can also help with tasks like getting dressed and showered and staying fresh can mean that the senior will feel more confident and independent, and able to do things without worrying that they might have trouble with them.
If the aging loved one in your care is suffering from depression in addition to other ailments, hiring a home care aide to help take care of them might be the right decision. Take some time to consider the benefits listed above, and to look into the options available to find the right care for the senior you love.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Ambereley, OH, please contact the caring staff at Queen City Elder Care today. Serving Cincinnati and Surrounding Communities. Call Us Today (513) 510-4410.
Michele Vollmer is a visionary leader who is perpetually searching for ways to improve, so to remain at the leading edge of the home care industry.She has served in the healthcare industry since 1989, including pharmaceutical and home health sales, as well as hospice sales and sales management.
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