Overnight care becomes invaluable to seniors and their families when more comprehensive care is needed. While many seniors experience a better quality of life with assistance with the activities of daily living, such as bathing, meal preparation, grocery shopping and dressing, greater care is eventually required for those suffering from progressive conditions, like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
What is Included and Who Can Benefit from Overnight Care
The compassionate care provided by an overnight caregiver revolves around a multitude of services commonly provided at night. Examples of care include help using the restroom in the middle of the night, providing fluids and snacks in the evening and assisting with preparing for bed. Elderly individuals may also receive help with transfer assistance throughout the night. Many seniors also find additional nighttime assistance to be beneficial, like help with commode placement or ensuring water is readily available nearby. Overnight caregivers also prepare early morning breakfast and offer morning care, such as personal and home care.
Overnight care is ideal for care recipients who have trouble sleeping at night or who wander due to dementia. Elderly individuals who struggle with nighttime sleep disturbances experience reassurance in knowing an overnight caregiver is a step away. The presence of an overnight caregiver also alleviates the anxiety and disorientation that results from disrupted sleep patterns. Rather than feeling undermined in their ability to live at home independently, seniors find comfort with overnight care.
Benefits of Overnight Care
The advantages of hiring an overnight caregiver are numerous. As a family member, you are likely to rest easy knowing a qualified caregiver is providing constant supervision and skilled care to your loved one.
- Constant Nighttime Supervision. The tendency to wander is common in seniors with dementia-related conditions, like Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia often affects sleep and can spur seniors to aimlessly wander. Waking a couple times at night is normal; however, when frequent wakefulness leads to wandering, the safety of the individual is in jeopardy.
Falls are a likely possibility when wandering in the darkness of night. Not only is injury a risk, but the senior may wander out of the house, get lost or meander into dangerous circumstances. A skilled overnight caregiver is instrumental in keeping the senior safe at all times during the night.
Plus, a senior with dementia should never be alone, especially at night. An overnight caregiver will be awake to monitor the senior’s activities and provide assistance when needed.
- Medical Care. Seniors with seizures or other medical conditions must receive continuous supervision. A qualified overnight caregiver will help the elderly individual cope when a medical condition escalates. As a family member, you’ll experience peace of mind knowing a skilled caregiver is present when you are not there.
- Mobility Assistance. When the senior has to use the bathroom at night, a skilled overnight caregiver is able to help. Plus, if the care recipient needs to maneuver throughout the home during the evening hours, an overnight attendant offers support to keep the individual safe.
- Erratic Behavior. Dementia affects seniors in a myriad of ways. Changes in personality is characteristic in dementia sufferers, as are emotional outbursts. When leaving a senior with dementia at home alone at night becomes a high risk, an overnight attendant lessens the chances of the senior getting into dangerous situations.
- Medication Schedules. Forgetting to take medications is common in elderly individuals, especially if they are left alone. Certain medications, like anti-seizure drugs or blood pressure medicine, must be taken regularly to prevent ill consequences. A trained overnight caregiver can remind care recipients to take their medications at bedtime and on a routine basis.
- Forgetfulness. Overnight care can be valuable for individuals who become increasingly forgetful. Leaving the stove on or doors open are commonplace among the elderly whose memory is affected. An attentive caregiver will monitor the environment.
- Depression. As seniors age, overwhelming depressive thoughts may arise. A compassionate overnight caregiver provides the necessary emotional support and companionship to prevent a senior from wounding themselves while in a depressed state.
Additional Tips for Overnight Care
As a family caregiver, you can take extra steps to help your loved one during the night. Keep your house securely locked to prevent the senior from wandering outside at night. Motion sensor lights in the hallway can help a senior find their way to the bathroom in the darkness of the evening. Leave a clear, unobstructed path from the bedroom to the bathroom in the event the senior needs water or a snack at night. Limit caffeine intake before bed and ensure the senior receives plenty of exercise to encourage adequate, quality sleep. Ensure your loved one is not taking sleeping pills, which can interact with existing medications and increase disorientation. Waterproofing the mattress lessens discomfort when incontinence issues arise.
Overnight care provides peace of mind to both the care recipient and family. Assisting Hands Home Care is a licensed home care agency with a team of dedicated overnight caregivers who carefully tend to the nighttime needs of senior clients. Focused overnight caregivers are available to provide optimum supervision either through sleeping in the same room as the senior or staying in a separate part of the home.
Overnight Care from Assisting Hands Home Care
Assisting Hands Home Care overnight caregivers are especially invaluable in the event your loved one has had a recent surgery. Overnight attendants will help the senior change positions in bed to ensure maximum comfort at all times and assist with taking medications to alleviate pain. If your loved one has impaired vision due to cataracts or glaucoma, Assisting Hands Home Care overnight caregivers will assist the senior with getting around at night and reduce the risk of falls.
Assisting Hands Home Care serves the elderly populations in Hollywood, Florida, with compassion and continual excellence in home care services. Seniors experience the skill and undivided attention of Assisting Hands’ elder caregivers who work tirelessly to help care recipients lead lives of dignity and independence. When your loved one needs reliable elder care services during any hours of the night, depend on the experienced overnight care team at Assisting Hands Home Care.
Free Consultation
For a free consultation regarding our overnight care services in the Hollywood, FL area, contact Assisting Hands Home Care at (954) 644-7276.
