Taking care of a disabled person at home is a great challenge. Especially at the beginning. Meanwhile, caring for a sick person can be learned and practically all nursing activities can be successfully performed at home.
If previously your contact with seriously ill people was limited to visits to hospitals, caring for a physically disabled person at home may seem almost impossible. We are used to the fact that the bedridden patients are usually taken care of by qualified personnel, and many activities of nurses or hospital attendants are performed by two people.
Indeed, a lot of knowledge is needed to care for disabled people. The good news, however, is that it’s not difficult to access at all. First of all, the most important thing is to know exactly what you will need to do when caring for the sick person. Later, practice is enough to perfectly cope with the beauty treatments. Here are some tips to make this care easier.
Serving meals
If the patient is able to sit independently at meal times and has good hands, the caregiver’s task is only to prepare and serve the dish. Let us remember: a sick person should not do activities that he can do alone.
And if he doesn’t have working hands, of course we have to feed him, bearing in mind a few important rules. We feed the sick person in a sitting position. We also try to provide him with such conditions during the meal that he can eat in peace, not distracted by unnecessary stimuli. We do not prepare dishes in the form of mush, unless the patient does not require a semi-liquid diet. This is very important, because the attractive appearance of meals makes both the sick and healthy eat with greater appetite. We serve the food in small bites, always making sure that the earlier one is swallowed. We should handle the cutlery gently so as not to hurt the patient, not to knock on the teeth and not to put a spoon or fork too deep into the mouth. Remember: if you have dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) you will need to follow a special diet.
Toilet
You can also do a daily toilet yourself, especially since there are currently hygienic preparations and materials on the market that make this task much easier.
If you are unable to brush your teeth yourself, your caregiver should help you at least twice a day. It is also a good opportunity to assess the health of the patient’s oral cavity.
Also, a seemingly difficult activity such as washing the head is not very complicated as a result. It is worth helping yourself, for example by using a specially designed inflatable pool. It has a cutout for the head, thanks to which the patient is comfortable, and at the same time we minimize the risk of water spilling on the mattress. The washing of the head is carried out as usual.
When washing the body, you also need to remember a few important rules. We do it in batches. We do not expose the whole sick person, but only the parts that we are currently dealing with. This will not only prevent the body from cooling down, but it is also more comfortable for the mentee. A very important rule: first wash the least soiled parts of the body, then gradually more and more dirty. This prevents the transmission of bacteria. So, in the upper body parts, we start with the face and end with the hands. It is also necessary to use specialized washing agents (you can choose between those with or without water). They provide the right level of hydration, which protects against abrasions and irritation, which in turn can lead to pressure ulcers.
Preparations that can be used without the use of water work well for the toilet of intimate places – at the same time they eliminate unpleasant odors and remove dirt, as well as disposable washers. Due to the natural presence of more bacteria in these parts of the body, it is recommended to use disposable gloves.
Selection of absorbent products
As many as one in four women and one in eight men have problems with urinary and / or faecal incontinence. This is especially true of the elderly. When caring for a person with urinary incontinence or immobilized, we should first choose the right absorbent products. These include urological inserts, anatomical diapers, absorbent pants and diaper pants. What should be considered when choosing? First of all, the degree of urinary incontinence, whether the person is moving, is partially disabled or completely disabled, and, of course, the size of the product. Choosing the right product not only ensures maximum comfort for the patient, but also facilitates all toilet activities, as it prevents clothes or bedding from getting dirty.
Care can be learned
All of the above steps can still seem complicated. Fortunately, anyone who needs information on caring for a sick person can easily get it. First of all, it is worth reaching for all kinds of compendiums of knowledge that are created by foundations for the care of patients. In addition to the descriptions, you will find helpful illustrations that show you how to perform the beauty treatments step by step.
If the text description and illustrations do not sufficiently explain your doubts, use video tutorials. They are made up of qualified specialists who take care of the sick on a daily basis.
In addition to publishing a free guide and videos, the “Together We Change the World” Foundation organizes workshops on caring for the sick in all Polish voivodeships as part of the Damy Rady project. During such training, specialists teach how to perform all the most important beauty treatments. In addition, participants can consult professionals on matters related to individual care for their relatives. Workshops are also a good opportunity to exchange experiences with other caregivers.
Meetings organized by the “Together We Change the World” Foundation are free of charge.