Perhaps you’re thinking about ways to make caregiving easier in the next coming year. You may have read tips and advice about caregiving and creating care plans, especially if you follow this blog, but don’t know exactly what care managers do on a task by task basis. An elderly care plan should encompass all facets of a senior’s life. In days of old, care plans merely addressed pressing health concerns. Today, caregivers design care plans that include health, lifestyle and social dimensions, improving their residents’ quality of life across the board.
As a care manager, one of the goals I try to instill through CCM is providing assistance within the context of a senior resident’s accustomed environment. If the resident lives in a nursing home or care facility, the care plans should allow for home-like routines. A reliable Chicago senior care provider must also encourage healthy lifestyles that fit the resident’s beliefs and personal preferences.
Before actually preparing a care plan, we first observe the senior resident’s daily routine. We try to find out if there are tasks the resident prefers to avoid, e.g., picking up clutter, cooking a meal or bathing, and why the person avoids them. We also might prepare an ADL (activities of daily living) questionnaire for the senior and loved ones to fill out. The resident’s daily needs, lifestyle choices, hobbies and interests will be explored as well. In addition, we’ll about activities the resident would like to pursue, but currently cannot, because of a constraining physical or mental condition.
Once we have all the pertinent data from observation and needs assessment, we’ll go over these findings with the senior resident. They decide whether certain devices would be of help, especially in the performance of ADLs. Identified care needs, however, should be administered in such a way as to preserve the dignity of the resident and promote his independence as much as possible. Appropriate ways to encourage the patient to engage in a hobby and interact with others are considered too.
When the assessment is completed, they start identifying together short and long-term goals for the resident to work toward. Goals are written by both the care manager and the senior, and should have the patient’s strengths and needs in mind. Throughout the entire process of goal setting, the senior gets the ultimate vote over specific objectives he or she deems worth striving for. After all, a geriatric care plan helps ensure that an aging individual continues to enjoy life. This is why it is so important to find reliable Chicago senior services only from established managers. Creative Care Management also makes sure to link seniors and their families with the appropriate local resources in Chicago for care providers and other needs.
Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to ccbishop@creativecasemanagement.com.
