According to researchers from the University of Southampton and Cardiff University, pain management is more effective in cancer patients when the care is led by a trained nurse. For the purposes of this study, a nurse oversaw individual caregivers to make sure that medication was given correctly. The nurse also evaluated the care practices overall, ensuring that a proper routine was established and adhered to.
The hope was that trained caregivers could be used to help family caregivers to establish a higher quality of care for the people that they cared about. The end result was very positive. Despite the lack of knowledge that many caregivers have, some simple guidance and training helped them to give their loved ones a better life. A self-evaluation process was also used to ensure that caregivers felt more confident at the end of the intervention.
The main takeaway that this project points to is that a trained professional is better able to ensure that a patient is receiving all of the medications, care, and other aspects of their treatment, when they are needed. The end result? A higher quality of life for the person in need.
This should act as a lesson to us as we start setting up senior care for our older family members. A trained caregiver is likely going to be better able to ensure that all aspects of care are applied and applied correctly than someone who is not thoroughly trained as an in-home care professional. Medication schedules can be difficult to create and follow, especially when more than one medication is needed, and meds must be distributed more than once per day. Also, in an emergency situation, family caregivers do not always know what to do. A little training can ensure that proper precautions are always followed and that your elderly loved one is always as safe and healthy as possible. Caregivers also must be able to look at and evaluate symptoms to determine if medications may be causing an adverse reaction. This is often difficult for family members to do. Trained in-home care specialists have often spent years doing just this, though.
And while this particular study looked at palliative care in cancer patients, the lessons learned can be applied to any type of caregiver. Having the proper training is absolutely necessary if you want to give your mom or dad the best care that you can. Being a caregiver is hard work, and caring for a family member is definitely not easy. But having the proper training can go a long way toward fixing this. If you are not a trained caregiver, hiring a professional in-home care service can establish that high quality care that your family deserves. By working with a caregiver that has experience and training, you can learn and help your parent even more when the caregiver is not on duty. If this is not something that you’ve thought about before, perhaps it is time to evaluate for yourself whether a professional care service can add to you and your family’s lives.
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