A stroke can change a life in an instant. If your loved one has had a stroke, he or she may be unable to perform daily tasks and require full-time care. Thankfully, you can make this sudden, drastic change in your loved one's life easier by hiring home health care services. Home health care allows your loved one to remain in the comfort of your home while recovering from a stroke. It allows your loved one to receive assistance with daily tasks while staying in a familiar environment. Here's what a home health aide does to help your loved one along his or her road to recovery after a stroke.
Helps With Daily Activities Made Difficult Due to Paralysis
Many people who have had a stroke suffer from severe paralysis on one side of their body. This paralysis makes it very difficult to perform everyday tasks such as bathing, eating and using the bathroom. In some cases, it can even be dangerous for people suffering from paralysis to do these tasks — they may be unsteady on their feet, and run the risk of falling and injuring themselves.
A home health aide will help keep your loved one safe by helping them with their daily activities and monitoring them to prevent injury. An aide will point out potential safety hazards in the home that may make it more likely that your loved one will trip, fall and injure themselves. Home health aides are trained to attend to the unique needs of people who have suffered from a stroke and will always follow the advice of your loved one's care team. For example, if your loved one's doctor requires food to be pureed or diced into very small pieces in order to prevent choking, a home health aide will follow their instructions when cooking meals for your loved one. By following the advice of medical professionals, a home health aide ensures that your loved one is helped with his or her daily activities in a safe manner.
Reminds Your Loved One to Take Medication As Prescribed
In some cases, people who have had a stroke suffer from cognitive impairment — the damage to the brain caused by a stroke can cause particular problems with the ability to remember information. This can make it more likely that your loved one will forget to take his or her medication on time. When you hire a home health aide to come to your home and care for your loved one, the aide will ensure that your loved one takes all of his or her medications on schedule. This is particularly important for people who have had a stroke — doctors often prescribe anticoagulants after the event in order to reduce the risk of having an additional stroke, so it's vitally important that your loved one takes them as prescribed.
Encourages Gentle Physical Activity to Aid in Recovery
Recovering after a stroke is a difficult and complicated process — some people show signs of a quick recovery, while other people take much longer to regain any mobility. It's important to maintain a healthy level of gentle physical activity in order to facilitate recovery and to prevent muscles from weakening. A home health aide will assist your loved one in performing gentle exercises while ensuring that they do not overexert themselves or injure themselves. If your loved one is currently seeing a physical therapist for rehabilitation after the stroke, a home health aide will guide your loved one in performing the exercises recommended by a physical therapist. By helping your loved one maintain a healthy level of safe physical activity, a home health aide assists your loved one in recovery.
If you're interested in hiring a home health aide to come to your home and care for your loved one, contact a home health care agency. Home health care is typically inexpensive and goes a long way towards giving you peace of mind and keeping your loved one safe and free of injury.
