Dementia and Your Loved One

Tips For New Caregivers About Home Health Care Equipment And Supplies

5 May 2016

Vickie Armstrong

Taking home a loved one from the hospital with orders for home care may be overwhelming to a new caregiver. While having your loved one home is a wonderful feeling, you may also be wondering if you will be able to provide the care and supervision necessary for that person to recover. If you have never been a caregiver before, follow these tips for making it easier on you.

Looking At Home Care Plans

When your loved is discharged from a hospital, he or she will go home with a care plan describing the home health care he or she will receive. If your family member requires a hospital bed, you will have an order for it on the plan and a date it will be delivered. The same is also true about other medical equipment like oxygen machines, walkers and wheelchairs. If the medical equipment you are receiving needs explanation about its use, you will also be visited by a health care worker to show you how to use it.

Visits From Medical Professionals

In most home care plans, you will have visits from several medical professionals, most of them coming from an agency assigned to your loved one. If you need help with bathing and dressing your loved one, you can get it from the health care agency in charge of your loved one. You will most likely also receive a visit from the social worker representing the home health agency. Nurses and physical therapists are a large portion of the visitors you and your loved one will have.

Bear in mind, however, that you will have a days that will require you to provide all care because there will be no visits. On the days you do have visits, be sure to tell the nurse or therapist about any medical supplies you are running low on. For example, if you use diapers and wipes for your loved one, you can have them brought along with professionals during their visits. This is an especially beneficial visit if your loved cannot be alone due to conditions like dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Notifying Your Loved One's Primary Health Care Provider

When your loved one is discharged, the doctor your loved has been under will be the one to sign the home health order. In many cases, a patient's primary care physician is not notified by other medical professionals. Making sure you tell the hospital to send over a copy of the home health care order to your loved one's primary care doctor is important. In the event your loved one needs to see his or her primary care physician, that person will already know about the types of care your loved one is receiving at home.

Remember that you need to take good care of yourself to look after your loved one at home after a hospital stay. Taking breaks and making time for yourself is important. Joining a support group of other caregivers is a good way to have someone to talk to that is also caring for someone sick.

For more information about medical equipment, contact Medi-Rents & Sales Inc or a similar company.

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