Does Your Loved One Need Caregivers, Cleaning Services, or Can They Handle Their Chores?

When caring for a loved one, you will probably need to decide who does what chores. When our parents get older, they may not be able to handle all chores as easily as they used to. Painful joints and difficulties in stretching mean that tasks such as scrubbing walls or polishing the floor become impossible. When you are faced with that kind of decision, there are three options that are open to you.

We will review each of them to help you determine which of the three is the best option.

Retained Chores

These are the chores you decide your loved ones can handle on their own. This will vary from individual to individual, depending on their capabilities. For seniors with few physical or mental issues, there should be a broad range of things they can do. However, you need to remember that just because they can do something doesn't mean they necessarily should. For example, seniors with memory loss problems may be able to handle the physical demands of cooking for themselves, but it might be dangerous for them to do so. Operating potential fire hazards such as ovens and stoves may be risky for seniors with Alzheimer's disease.

Cleaning Services Chores

For most Americans, cleaning services companies handle the heavy lifting. Cleaning jobs that are strenuous, such as scrubbing walls, cleaning the outdoors, and spring cleaning, are best handled by a cleaning services company. This is for several reasons. For starters, such thorough cleaning is rarely required daily. For twice a week cleaning or less, it is more cost-effective to get a cleaning service.

Given that the cleaning services hire professionals, your loved one is more likely to get a more effective cleaning job done using a cleaning service. Finally, cleaning companies use various cleaning agents to clean around. Having your loved one handle such harsh chemicals without training would risk them.

When hiring a cleaning services company, you need to check that they have some experience handling seniors. This is because seniors have needs that differ from those of others, and the cleaning services company needs to be aware of this.

Caregiver Services

If your family member requires specialized care, such as when suffering from Alzheimer's, caregivers may be best placed to keep your loved one comfortable. Caregivers can help with light chores depending on the agreement that you have with them, as well as offer specialized care. An ideal case for caregivers is when your family member requires personal care such as safe bathing, dressing, etc. Caregivers can also offer a high degree of specialized care.

Which Is Best?

As you may have already realized, the ideal scenario combines two or more of these approaches. For example, a family may opt to have a cleaning services company handle the tough cleaning chores. They may also engage a caregiver to offer personal services such as bathing and dressing assistance.

Get Top-Notch In-Home Care Services With Senior Helpers in Greater Knoxville

Senior Helpers Greater Knoxville has a proven record of in-home care for seniors. Our professional team members have plenty of experience, and thousands of families trust us to care for their loved ones. Reach out to us today to learn how we can assist you in caring for your family member.