Intimate Care for Your Elderly Loved One

One of main duties of care giving is providing personal care for your elderly loved one, while still helping him or her, maintain independence and dignity. 

This can be a difficult time for the senior in your life, who may be embarrassed, or even angered, about their loss of independence, and their reliance on others. By taking some simple steps you can lesson the difficulty, and communicate in a caring way, to your elderly loved one that you are only there to assist, and provide care. Here is what you need to know about providing intimate care for your loved one-


Bathing
Your senior may need help bathing. It is important to maintain this as it, promotes good health, helps your loved one to relax, and provides an opportunity for increasing circulation, and moving the extremities of a bed-bound person. There are several items that can assist and make the experience much easier, for both the senior, and the caregiver. Transfer benches can make moving a wheelchair bound senior, into the shower safer, and easier. Benches that are placed inside the shower can allow a senior to sit while being bathing. For the bed-bound elderly there are hair washing basins, and other products that make bathing possible even at the bedside.

Feeling good and looking good enhances the dignity of a  loved one. 

Toileting needs
This is an area where it is crucial that the caregiver show both compassion, and discretion. Some seniors may need assistance moving into the bathroom, and then can deal with personal needs on their own. There are items that can make the bathroom both safer, and easier to use. Just a few of these times are: raised and locking toilet seats, handles that help with steadiness and balance, and personal care products that easy to use, and gentle on aging skin. For the bed bound elderly, using a bedpan is generally the only option. There are certain guidelines that can help in this delicate situation. These are:

• Ask any visitors to please step out to provide privacy
• Wash your hands
• Discuss what you will do
• If the bed is adjustable, raise the bed to a working height and/or lock the wheels if needed.
• Help your loved one raise up onto the bedpan
• Provide additional privacy if possible (walk away, turn around etc.)

It is also important to remember to offer the bedpan frequently. This helps to prevent accidents and embarrassments. Keep in mind that your elderly loved one may not realize the degree of their incontinence.

Locking toilet seat with security handles

Grooming
Part of providing intimate care for your elderly loved one can mean grooming them. Many seniors reach a stage in life where they are no longer able to care for themselves. Providing this type of service to them is not only a health benefit (clean hair, teeth, etc), but is also a chance to help sustain emotional health. This type of care can include:

• Combing or brushing hair
• Providing fingernail care 
• Providing foot care
• Helping someone shave
• Assisting with oral care
• Performing oral care on an unconscious person
• Flossing teeth
• Assisting with denture care
• Reinserting dentures

Toothette used to swap out a persons mouth

For the products you need to help with grooming issues for your elderly loved one, you can find a wide selection here of hard to find helpful tools.


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About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visit http://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.