The Role of Caregivers and Personal Care Assistants in Assisted Living

According to data from the Guardian, 100 million American adults are caretakers. For the elderly, what is the role of caregivers? And how do they work to preserve an older adult's quality of life in assisted living communities?

Caregiving roles include medication management, nutritional needs, and emotional support. However, these are just a few of the assisted living responsibilities of caregivers. This article explains the importance of caregivers in assisted living communities.

What Are Caregivers?

Caregivers look after another person, ensuring their emotional and physical safety and well-being. In assisted living communities, caregivers assist the elderly. Their roles are varied, from providing assistance with memory-related issues to chronic conditions and restricted mobility.

Caregivers play an invaluable role in a person's life, working to help them retain their independence. When older adults have caregivers, they can age in place in a safe, comfortable environment.

Personal Care Duties

Older adults in senior living communities often need assistance with managing prescriptions, along with various physical needs. This includes:

Getting dressed
Bathing
General Mobility
Cleaning
Checking vital signs, especially with medication management

Caregivers can also help schedule different doctor's appointments and ensure prescriptions are called in. If a resident needs help with a prescription, caregivers can help them contact their doctor's office for questions.

Should a resident need assistance with their monitoring vital signs, senior living communities have personal care support to lend a hand.

Caregivers also help with other daily tasks. If residents need light assistance with general housekeeping, caregivers are there for support. They also help to schedule different appointments and can help residents to keep track of upcoming events, especially social gatherings.

Since caregivers assist with bathing and getting dressed, they work to help older adults retain their independence as long as possible. Support is tailored to the needs of each resident so everyone feels empowered to age gracefully. Additional responsibilities include toileting for those who require it, done in a way that helps the elderly feel dignified in their daily routine.

Companionship

Companionship and emotional support are two of the most important aspects of senior care services.

According to Mental Health America (MHA), more than 2 million adults aged 65 and older experience some type of depression. This is why the need for companionship is of the utmost importance in assisted living communities.

When older adults have caregivers offering emotional support, it helps to combat feelings of loneliness and isolation. The kindness and compassion shared by caregivers can work to improve an older adult's quality of life, positively improving their mental health.

There are numerous ways caregivers provide companionship. They might:

Go for walks with residents
Sit and chat, keeping them company and helping them to recall fond memories
Play board and card games, especially for residents who require memory care

If caregivers have therapy pets, they can bring them to visit with residents, working to promote their general sense of well-being.

Recreational Activities

Assisted living communities offer residents plenty of opportunities to socialize and spend time with other residents. Care assistant's roles are to keep everyone in assisted living actively engaged, helping them to partake in different events. This might be an exercise program to prompt healthy living or even local outings to keep residents out and about.

Older adults might otherwise struggle to participate in these activities, but dedicated caregivers make it easier for them to thrive and enjoy their surroundings.

Updated Training

Caregivers are expected to continuously update their credentials, improving their skills and techniques through training and professional development. From there, caregivers are updated on how to properly administer first aid in case of an emergency, along with the best way to care for residents with dementia.

Caregivers are also taught the proper ways of communicating with residents, ensuring everyone they assist is comfortable in their care. When caregivers take the time to update their techniques, they're able to better assist community members with their updated skills.

Some different types of training include:

Client hygiene and personal care
Dementia care
Communication skills
Housekeeping
Motivating caregivers

With caregivers, there are plenty of great certification courses they can take to update their skills. They can also take courses to prevent burnout.

Help to Prevent Falls

According to the CDC, more than 14 million older adults experience a fall every year. Older people are more inclined to face severe consequences from a fall, which is why they need to be protected in the first place.

Caregivers work to prevent the elderly from falling. They can provide assistance with moving from the bed to a chair, from the chair to another part of their living space, and even around their assisted living community. When older adults have caregivers, their loved ones can rest easy knowing someone is working to keep them safe and secure.

Support With Proper Nutrition

When considering malnourishment in older adults, it's estimated that a quarter of them are affected (BMC Medicine). This is what makes caregivers in assisted living communities so important.

These trained staff members work to ensure the elderly's specific dietary needs are met, adding to their overall quality of life. Since appetite wanes with age, caregivers work to provide all residents with:

Delicious and nutritious meals
Custom meal plans for specific dietary restrictions
Portion control for adults with specific health conditions

Caregivers in assisted living communities work with trained dieticians and professional chefs to further curate custom meal plans. If residents have issues with chewing and swallowing, caregivers can work to find tasty meals they'll enjoy. They can also assist residents with food prep so they can retain their independence and have access to snacks and meals inside their personal living space.