Is Home Care for Seniors Safe During a Pandemic?

Looking back at the past several months, family caregivers have had to face seemingly insurmountable challenges connected with the care of the senior family members they love. With COVID-19’s specific dangers to the elderly and those diagnosed with underlying health conditions, such as COPD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and others which can be common in the elderly, families have struggled with how to protect senior loved ones. To that end, some families made the difficult choice to pause home care for seniors to stop having anyone outside of the family come into the home – meaning the family members were unexpectedly responsible for full-time senior care.

Without a care partner, this alone may be unbelievably stressful, but add to this the numerous other new responsibilities and concerns set off by the pandemic, such as shifting to working virtually, caring for young children who could no longer attend school or daycare, and much more.

To say it is been a difficult time is an understatement, yet with a lot of new safety protocols established, can it be safe to once again bring in a professional in-home care provider in order to assist?

Midnight Sun Home Care has continued to deliver safe, reliable home care for seniors throughout the pandemic in accordance with all recommended guidelines. When you are ready to explore care options, keep the following tips in mind:

• Work with an experienced in-home care provider, like Midnight Sun Home Care, which has a well-thought-out COVID-19 plan in place – and ask for information about that plan.
• Plan to be there once the caregiver arrives the first time to help relieve any anxieties you may have, such as making certain he/she is wearing a face covering, sanitizing surfaces, washing hands often, etc.
• Speak to the senior’s doctor about any concerning health conditions and to get tips for any extra safety measures that ought to be taken during in-home care visits.

The care professionals at Midnight Sun Home Care are always available to answer any questions you may have and also to share details about the steps we are taking to protect senior loved ones in our care, such as:

• Wearing face coverings and other personal protective equipment as appropriate
• Thoroughly sanitizing and disinfecting any items brought into the seniors’ homes
• Making sure all care staff are healthy through routine temperature checks and wellness assessments
• Practicing safe social distancing protocol
• And so much more

For more information about how we are helping seniors with care services in Anchorage, AK and the surrounding areas, and the many benefits of professional in-home care, contact us online or give us a call at (907) 677-7890.