Guest Blog: Elder Care, an International Look

In our Golden Nuggets Newsletter for May, we talked about May Day and their European tradition of recognizing their workers on that day. In the international spirit, we have a guest blogger showing us a little about caregiving in England. 

Bio: ​Emma Jones is part of the community team at Greenwood Homecare who provide a range of high quality care services. Emma is passionate about improving the quality of care that elderly people receive in the UK and around the world. 

8 Tips for Elderly Care at Home of
Aging Parents and Seniors

It is essential to go through a checklist before deciding on a care home for a loved elderly person. A care home for the elderly can be fraught with many decisions to be made. A lot of care home facilities need to be considered before choosing the right place for an old loved one to stay in. 

Choosing a care home for the elderly can be fraught with many decisions to be made. A lot of care home facilities need to be considered before selecting the right place for an elderly loved one to stay in. Sometimes it is better to let the old stay in an assisted care home instead of their own home, especially if the concerned person has special needs. Today, London care homes bring support and care to thousands of our elderly population suffering from various kinds of ailments such as dementia and terminal illnesses. Here are the prime considerations to picking out the best of the London care homes. ​

1. License

Any care home for the elderly should have the license that allows them to provide such services in the area. Not only that, such a license means that the care home

is regularly monitored and inspected. This again leads to better services all around. Checking with the health department about any care home one is looking into to find out whether it is licensed is a necessity. ​​ ​

2. Services Required

​Not all care home facilities are the same. Some may be experts at dealing with people with Alzheimer's while the next may be good with senior people who need assistance all the time. 

Whatever it is, making sure that one lays down his cards on the table while talking to care homes and find out exactly what services they offer before deciding on any one of them is important. ​

3. Emergency Situations

The truth is that emergency situations are more common than not among the elderly. Choosing care home facilities which are good at emergency situations is always a good idea. 

It is essential that the senior responsibility you are thinking of putting into their hands is equipped to deal with accidents and emergencies. In fact, asking for a written document where the care home facilities, state the emergency procedures they have in place is a good idea. ​

4. Payment

​The method of payment London care homes accept will differ. That is why it is a good idea to check beforehand what kind of payment a care home one will allow before signing anything. 

When entrusting one of the London care homes with the responsibility of caring and providing assistance for a loved one, make sure that one has done his homework well and left nothing to chance is essential. 

5. Administration

Of course, the next step is to check out the people who will actually take care of your elderly. No matter how beautiful the premises, if the people are ineffective, your elderly will be miserable. 

We have all seen movies of nursing homes with abusive attendants. We know what could go on in dealing with the wrong people. What you need to do is observe the people around you and how they react to the administration. 

6. Comfort 

Comfort -after you have examined the nursing home staff, you need to take a look at the premises. 

Do you think that your elderly will be comfortable in this nursing home? Do not judge the nursing home based on your experience. Remember that the elderly are much more sensitive to comfort than you are. 

You need to take into every little detail and see if that alters the nursing home's comfort value. 

7. Safety

Safety -a nursing home should, of course, be safe for the elderly. You should be assured that the nursing home has every precaution against any accident that might happen. 

See if proper measures have been taken and precautionary devices installed to prevent accidents or incidents. After all, you do pay them to take care of your elderly. 

8. Food

​Food -the basic need of people. The food served in the nursing home should be edible. If you don't like the look of the food, how much more can you trust the nursing home to provide your elderly with the little things that matter? 

The food should be edible not only to the elderly but also to you. You need to make sure that the nursing home takes the specific needs of each person in preparing the food.