Our Essential Heroes

Our Caregivers Are Essential

For most people in caregiving, the “Why” you do what you do, is because you have it in you to provide the best for others, and help them “see life through”  ... and it is fulfilling at the end of the day to know that you’ve made a difference, and put your heart and soul into your work.

Mechelle shares some of the detail of every day living care that she provides to her clients, along with her reasoning why.

In Homecare, in many cases, our staff become “Like family.”

“First and foremost, I really try to treat them like my own family. I try to care for them like I would want my own folks cared for and myself one day. Treating them with dignity and respect and making them feel comfortable with a warm smile, a soft touch and a little sense of humor.”

Mechelle 

• Fills out their calendar with schedules for things that may make it easier to remember:  names, showering, watering plants and she has it in a visible spot to help them keep on track. 
• Asks questions to let them feel like they are making decisions for what meals they might like and when they would like to shower
• refresh water glasses, making meals that are pleasing to the eye and offer a lot of variety
• Set the table like it's a dining experience, not just a hot pocket on plate,  Using their own favorite recipes for meals.
• Be watchful and mindful of how they keep things or where they put things as well as doing things as they would... as it is their home and I hope to be looked at as a great addition to their home not causing stress. 
• Keep them active in the decisions for their routines and offering for them join in helping make a meal or play a game.
• I had Betty help me color Easter eggs and Marilyn and I plan to work on making some masks.
• I really try to just sit a bit and talk with them, ask about their past, their family, what they used to do when they worked. I want to keep digging so that I can come up with things they might like to do
• I hope to this week or next to ask them if I can take them out for a drive and a warm sunny day so they can get out of the house a bit. With "Safer at Home" and "social distancing" they don’t get as many visitors so maybe getting out and driving through town so they can see how traffic is less, stores are closed but people are still out and life is still going on and the sun still shines. Flowers are blooming and geese are returning, and robins are in abundance.

All in all, I love my clients like they are family!!

Yours in Christ,

Mechelle W.