During the coronavirus pandemic many elderly individuals were asked to self-isolate at home (especially those over 70 or individuals with an underlying medical condition). However, during these uncertain times, the role of a domiciliary healthcare assistant is still crucial to ensure individuals are staying independent and healthy through encouraging mental and physical activities daily. As a healthcare assistant, you can also provide service users with companionship, this helps prevent the risk of loneliness and social isolation: which is extremely important during Covid-19.
Encouraging regular communication with family & friends
It is vital for individuals to stay in contact with family and friends during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, all staff encourage different ways for their service user to communicate with their loved one for example: skype, facetime, emails, phone calls and letters. We are aware that loneliness has become a bigger concern since the pandemic has started therefore it is extremely important that our care professionals support the new lines of communication. Not only does having a healthcare assistant visit regular benefit the service user, but also, the service user’s family often feel reassured that their loved one has someone to talk to and support them when it is impossible for external support from family currently.
Staying Active
‘Helping older people maintain fitness and wellbeing at home is essential during self-isolation’.
Individuals need to maintain their level of mobility, as a care professional staff at Peak Home Assist can encourage light activities that keep individuals active and independent within their own home. For example: standing up regular, getting up to make a cup of tea, moving around the garden or even doing a jigsaw. It is important to consider that any activity is better than none, and activity can often prevent many common diseases.
There are also a range of exercises that can be viewed on the NHS website linked below:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/nhs-fitness-studio/
Encouraging a healthy diet (Good Nutrition)
Food, not only is necessary for survival, but also is closely tied with the protection from certain diseases. It is important to highlight that malnutrition is a significant threat in older age. Therefore, by ensuring our service users are eating healthily, this can reduce the risk of conditions that potentially could put them at risk of Covid-19 such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. At Peak Home Assist we can ensure that shopping visits are included into care plans where necessary, ensuring our service users are getting essentials regularly. We can also help prepare food at our visits and encourage fluid intake alongside this to prevent dehydration.
