As your loved ones go through life's later stages, you'll want to bring them to a facility that cares greatly about their health. Qualified aged care providers offer just that — and they have the expertise and dedication to give your parents or loved ones a nice and fulfilling stay. In most countries throughout the world, responsibility regarding aged care privacy and information use is an inviolable human right. In building on this notion, it's important to conduct your research in order to ensure that your loved ones are well taken care of. Both care recipients and caregivers should uphold the following:
- Recipients are to be treated with dignity and respect at all times
- Providers should accomplish their duties and responsibilities best they can
To branch it out further, here are six of the many responsibilities aged care providers have to ensure that your loved ones have a comfortable stay.
1. Preparing meals and drinks for aged care recipients
One of the many responsibilities of an aged care provider is to arrange and facilitate meal plans for the facility's patients. From sourcing the food, preparing it, to serving it, and then administering the meal in the case of a disability — this duty plays a big role in the aged care facility worker's daily routine. Many elderly patients have strict dietary limitations, so the providers must be on top of these things and prevent any fatal mix-ups. It's also a good idea to get an idea of an aged care facility's food and dietary plan ahead of time. This is to ensure that your loved one will have enough nutrition and sustenance in their diet rather than having cost-cutting meal plans instead.
2. Provides information about care to care recipients about services
There are two important things that people who send their elderly parents or loved ones to aged care facilities would love:
- knowing that their loved ones are treated with dignity
- having the personal freedom and independence knowing that your loved one is safe
Thankfully, there are strict regulatory measures in place to give you peace of mind knowing that your elderly loved one is in safe hands. Aged care providers are responsible for telling their patients and their families about what to expect within the facility. They're also required to inform the elderly and the family if there are any new developments or changes from the services provided.
3. Administer medicine as prescribed by health professionals
Consider the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 as an example in Australia - under this act, medication management is administered and is the duty of a Registered Nurse under the approval of an aged care provider. This nurse is required by law to manage the medication while abiding by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia guidelines. In the aged care recipient's eyes, the administering of medicine follows a set schedule. The aged care provider also informs them of the medicine beforehand for health and transparency. Aside from administering, the medicine needs to be stored, recorded, and managed as is legally required.
4. Provide social support when the patient wants to go on outings
If the elderly recipient wants to go on an outing and is able, the aged care providers have to accompany them. Under most circumstances, the elderly patient is free to leave the facility to visit cafes, parks, and nearby establishments. They're just as free as any person who wants to step outside for a walk from their suburban home. That said, they still have to comply with rules and regulations concerning public health directions. Let's continue with the previous example - in Victoria, elderly folk who return to the facility must undergo a screening tool to make sure that they're safe upon return and won't carry diseases or viruses that could spread to other residents.
5. Treat patients with dignity and privacy
Aged care recipients are highly aware of the mental faculties of each of the aged care residents. As such, they uphold their dignity and privacy to the highest standards. Respect for the elderly is a core part of an aged care provider's training, and they can show this through strictly abiding by eight important factors relating to dignity. These are:
- Choice and control
- Communication
- Personal hygiene
- Eating and nutritional care
- Pain management
- Practical assistance
- Social inclusion
- Privacy
For a person who has resigned their independence to a stranger, even just seemingly trivial things can mean the world to them. Getting valued and respected builds the resident's trust and well-being too, making them feel more at home in the facility.
6. Assistance in daily activities
For aged care workers, while there are routinary tasks that greet you every day, there's still a lot of things that happen throughout the day that make no two days alike. But whether these aged care providers are doing their nursing rounds or if they're preparing a meal in the kitchen, the mission is the same: to provide quality services for the elderly residents. The type of assistance that aged care providers perform include the following:
- Delivering specialist services
- Ensuring available health services
- Monitoring and documenting the health of residents
- Assisting in bathing and changing clothes
- Communication with family members regarding care and health
- Running social events
- Ensuring cleanliness of the facility
Head over to Oxa Care to find out more about aged care services.
That said, there are SOP duties an aged care provider is trained to perform in case of emergencies as well. Disclaimer: The statements, opinions, and data contained in these publications are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of Credihealth and the editor(s). Call +91 8010-994-994 and talk to Credihealth Medical Experts for FREE. Get assistance in choosing the right specialist doctor and clinic, compare treatment cost from various centers and timely medical updates
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