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Dementia Care Home: Points to keep in mind before making the final decision

Taking care of elderly with dementia at home can be challenging, but most of us don’t want to consider the idea of care homes at first. However, elderly with dementia need continued attention and skilled care, which can be difficult to provide at home in the absence of a trained caregiver. Due to this, specialised care homes might emerge as the only solution to this specific situation.

However, making the final choice regarding the right care home can be equally daunting due to the emotions involved and differing opinions. Senior Care Genie makes this process easier for families by helping families make informed decisions according to their personalised needs.

Whether you are looking for care homes or for long-term care for your loved one, these are the key things that will help you decide the best:

Expertise and training of the team

The staff of the care home will be responsible for ensuring your loved one’s safety and wellbeing.Therefore, their expertise and professionalism is the key element that you need to check. You should always ask a lot of questions and keep an eye on the staff before you decide.You should consider care homes with skilled caregivers and nursing experience. Also observe if they are polite, warm and welcoming. Dementia patients require utmost care, so ensuring the appropriate training of the staff caring is vital and should not be ignored.

Direct contact person

The caregivers in the care home should see the elderly more than as a mere patient and should take their unique qualities, interests, preferences and needs into account. Here the personal care also includes maintaining the dignity and respect of the elderly. Knowing the direct contact person who is in charge of taking care of your parents/grandparents will help you to get weekly reports and updates about any changes in the elderly’s behaviour. Also, you can directly share the likes and dislikes with the person to help him understand the needs of your loved one easily. 

Dementia activities

It is equally important to analyse what all dementia activities are available before picking up a care home. Activities are really important as they keep the elderly occupied and do not let boredom hit them. Physical exercises ensure that they are physically fit and mentally stimulating activities like remembering past events, places they have travelled, art and craft, etc. to keep them engaged.

Security

Elderly with dementia have the tendency to roam around and walk out of secured premises. So, the security of the care home is most important. There should be defined emergency and alert systems in all areas of the care home. 

Food and dietary requirements

The food and dining experience has a significant effect on the satisfaction levels of care home residents. So before making a final decision, you should always visit the home during meal time for a clearer understanding of the kind of meals they serve. You should check during your visit to see if residents can choose from various options. Ask someone whether they offer food options and nutritious snacks when residents ask for it. Learn how they care for the elderly who are unable to feed themselves.

Timely reports

A care house is not only responsible for caring for the elderly with dementia. Care Home staff are also required to remain in contact with families if an accident or incident occurs. A staff member should always be available to discuss any specific concerns  with family members. This should include physical and emotional problems, and you should always look for whether this support is available.

It is important to choose the right care home for elderly with dementia and the above points can help you avoid making the wrong decision. After all, your elderly loved ones deserve time, attention and the right care. You can always rely on Senior Care Genie to make such decisions more informed and convenient for you, as we have intensive experience in caring for the elderly. We first understand the health requirements of the elderly and the expectations of the families to then help them find the right senior care services.

10 Ways to Help your Parents Stay Engaged Post Their Retirement

Retirement can become monotonous for people who enjoy working. We all want to stay forever young, don’t we? After our parents retire, they find it hard to keep themselves active and occupied. Without jobs, things can get hard to cope up with as boredom can make them feel a lot older than they want to. As children, it is our duty to help them stay active and engaged both mentally and physically. Because as they say, you only get old when you start feeling old! 

As old age hits, it is highly crucial for you to maintain a healthy relationship with your parents to make them feel valued.

Here are 8 ways to help your parents stay active even after retirement:

  1. Exercises: Morning and evening walks can boost up your parents’ energy and help them stay fit. Moderate exercises help them keep their joints and muscles moving, which helps in the reduction of joints pain. Simple exercises also help in the efficient circulation of blood and oxygen flow in the body which helps them lead a healthy lifestyle. 
  2. Puzzles and word games: Simple puzzles and interesting games can help your parents feel good. It can help in keeping their minds active. Everyday mind activities can make your parents work their mind muscles without putting pressure. Spare some time from your busy schedule and arrange a word game with your parents. Regular interactions with your parents bring you closer to them! 
  3. Social media: We often don’t get enough time to use social media in our daily jobs. When your parents retire, it’s the perfect time for them to feel young all over again and go bananas with technology! Take some time out every day to teach them the magical effects of technology. Staying connected to their loved ones through social media, watching exciting videos on YouTube, and clicking goofy selfies can make them stay away from boredom. These little things and efforts from your side can make them immensely happy! 
  4. Giving them books to read: Now that your parents have all the time in the world, they can explore things like art and literature! An exciting way to stay engaged is to read a good book or a spiritual holy book of their interest. This will not only help them to learn something new but will also keep their mind active. 
  5. Music, Movies, and shows: Who doesn’t enjoy the pleasure of a good movie? Movies and shows can be a great source of entertainment for the elderly. Watch something exciting with your parents of their era, to make them feel special and nostalgic. It’s always good to reminisce about old times and look back at hundreds of memories. While you’re at it, you can also ask them to talk about their childhood memories and laugh with them! 
  6. Gardening: Nature has beautiful ways of communicating with those who truly wish to know it. Spending time with plants can be a great source of happiness and engagement for your parents. It will give them a sense of purpose and keep them engaged. Having greenery in your house can be a great source of cold breeze, a delightful sight, and improved oxygen circulation through clean air! 
  7. Talk about the old times with your parents: Every once in a while, sit with your parents and ask them to tell you about their childhood, school memories, and teenage stories. They can go on and on about it! While you’re at it, you can also open up photo albums and get nostalgic with them. If the stories fall short, you can always roll back to your childhood memories! Small efforts like these can brighten up their day and bring a smile to their face! 
  8. Traveling: Traveling is a wonderful way to take a break. Plan a vacation with your parents and help them explore new places, cultures, and people! If you don’t have the bandwidth for a vacation, Sunday picnics to the city park can work wonders on keeping your parents engaged and happy! 
  9. Socializing: Help your parents socialize with other people of their age. Book clubs, and yoga & meditation classes are a magnificent way of keeping your parents interactive and seek support from people of their age. 
  10. New Hobbies: Developing and exploring new activities can make your parents energetic. Knitting, pottery, cooking, learning a musical instrument, and solving jigsaw puzzles can instantly produce serotonin in their bodies and make them feel delighted!

The Bottom Line:

Old age tends to become a lonely journey. However, if you engage with your parents and encourage them to try new hobbies and explore new things, it can become a fun process! 

If you’re looking for elderly care services at home, elder care services in Delhi, home nursing services in Gurgaon, Senior Care is a safe place for your parents to feel valued, safe and secure.

home attendant for elderly

Helping you feel assured of the wellbeing of your ageing loved ones.

Amidst the fast pace of life and work commitments, how does one ensure the right care and adequate wellbeing of their ageing loved ones? In a scenario of a hectic job occupying most of your time or a situation where you are living away from home, ensuring that your parents and grandparents needs are being met in an attentive and empathetic manner can become a matter of concern. Uncertainty looms at the back of your mind, and while one tries to make arrangements to the best of their capabilities, a lingering need for assistance with elderly care still remains for one to truly feel assured and go on with their daily routines with peace of mind. 

Through our comprehensive and personalized home nursing services in Gurgaon, Delhi & other cities, SeniorCareGenie extends this assurance to families regarding the wellness of the elderly by ensuring optimal care of their ageing loved ones by meeting every healthcare and personal need of theirs. What we offer goes beyond just the phrase ‘elder care services’ as we strive to build life-long relationships with the elderly and their families through an approach that supports and stands with them during emergencies. The extra time and efforts we take in our processes are evident to how important it is for us to be extremely observant, meticulous, empathetic, and reassuring in the at-home senior care services we provide to the families, further elaborated below. 

Medical assessment

This is the first step of our process that ensures that we know everything of value regarding the requirements of the elderly and their families. We don’t try to fit others in the moulds of a fixed service template but rather analyze their needs and customize what we offer accordingly. We learn your detailed history from you, including the health of the senior and your specific requirements, to shortlist the profiles of caregivers optimal for what you are searching for in terms of senior care. 

Personalized for your requirements

While we offer very comprehensive programs for at-home elder care that covers all aspects of assistance with daily living activities and health maintenance, we understand senior care is not one size fits all, and that every family has different requirements. That is why we tailor-made our programs to best align with the specific needs of the elderly and their families to help them in a way that best serves their lifestyle and the gaps they are trying to fill with our service. We go above and beyond in truly making the process easier, convenient and befitting to them, whether it be their search for 24×7 senior care, companionship for their ageing loved ones or more.  

More than just a service 

We build a long-term relationship with the families we help and connect with to ensure that they have a support system to rely on and trust during emergencies, even when they are away from home and can’t be physically present to handle the entire situation related to their ageing loved ones. We become the pillar of strength they need and cater to the elderly’s difficulties as their family would. 

Regular reporting 

We understand that despite every measure and assurance, one can still feel anxious and constantly worried about what is happening back at home to their ageing loved one’s health and care. That is why we share fortnightly and monthly reports with families detailing the health, activities, condition, and outings of the elderly so that they remain updated about the wellbeing of their parents and grandparents at all points. 

Transparency & flexibility

We are completely transparent in what we offer and provide. We don’t take the absence of the family from their home for granted and keep you intimated about however things are transpiring with the elderly. Even when families feel that the caregivers are not a perfect fit with their requirements or expectations, we are very upfront in training another caregiver or nurse and then appointing them in the place of the previous carer. Our main focus is the utmost comfort of the seniors and no compromises on their dignity and quality of living, and for ensuring that we are flexible in responding to the fears and concerns of the families. 

Sometimes, families have certain inhibitions about making the entire payment upfront since they feel unsure and uncertain. Thus we offer a buffer period of three days to families, after which if they choose to continue with the service, they can enjoy flexible payment options. In an attempt to make the decision stress-free and easier for them, we provide fortnightly and monthly payment options available to families at their convenience. 

The core focus of our extensive elder care services in Delhi, Gurgaon & other cities is to ensure absolute maintenance of the wellness of the elderly by making quality and assured care accessible to families. We are comprehensive, flexible, transparent, ethical, honest and careful in our approach of making senior care as untroubled and convenient as possible. If you are looking for a home attendant for elderly, or any other senior care services, contact us for more details!

elderly care services at home

Gaps in at-home elderly care services that Senior Care Genie is filling

There is no denying that with the increasing pace of life and time management challenges, senior care services such as elder care homes and at-home elderly care are becoming a sought after option for ensuring the wellbeing and daily life maintenance of the elderly. However, there still remain many inhibitions and trust issues regarding the quality of care that at-home senior care can provide to one’s ageing loved ones, along with the anxiety of the possibility of abuse and neglect. Finding trained staff and carers becomes another hurdle and challenge for people searching for a kind of assistance that can enable optimal and skilled care to the seniors. 

Moreover, the stigma attached to seeking elderly care services hampers families to explore options that can offer improved quality of living for the elderly and unfaltering attention to them, and further steers them away from finding the right solution to their requirements and needs. Additionally, the general at-home care services are usually unable to meet the families’ expectations and have an inadequate approach towards quality senior care. 

SeniorCareGenie fills this gap through comprehensive at-home eldercare services that include a meticulous caregiver profiling process, detailed medical assessment of the elderly and personalized care programs that align with families specifications and expectations. Following are the ways we are eradicating the potential challenges that at-home care can pose to one’s ageing loved ones in the absence of a methodological, ethical and quality approach and processes.   

The challenge of finding trained & skilled carers

Finding trained staff for the specific medical condition of the elderly is one of the challenges many families might face when looking for at-home senior care, as the usual approach lacks rigorous training of the carers. Training of caregivers is a continuous process as every family will have a different health and lifestyle scenario of the seniors along with varied specifications. 

SeniorCareGenie trains the carers or staff according to these specifications after a detailed study of the families’ expectations and the elderly’s medical history. So, for a senior with difficulties in daily life activities and for an elder afflicted with a medical condition like diabetes, the curriculum and framework of training that their carer would have to undergo will be different.  

The challenge of miscommunication with caregivers

It might be complex for the families to get accustomed to the presence of a caregiver, but the carers face the same challenge in the absence of a smooth transitioning process. For the quality of elderly care to remain uncompromised,  a collaborative effort from both the families and staff is required from the very beginning. 

Our processes ensure an open conversation with families wherein the onus for making the transition of the carer in the new environment easier lies on the shoulders of both us and the families. They are requested to be upfront about their systems, lifestyle, and difficulties, followed by a customized training of carefully chosen caregivers to align with the information we get.  This process ensures no miscommunication and gap between the carer and the families so that the overall experience remains highly synergic.    

The challenge of finding trained dementia care staff

We have a very detailed process of assessing the condition of the elderly needing dementia care wherein we visit their homes with a specialist and a trained nurse to consolidate our understanding of their specific requirements, behavioural symptoms and severity of the condition. 

After a thorough analysis of their medical history comes the part of shortlisting the caregiver who will prove to be an excellent fit to the elderly, followed by training geared at making the carer proficient in managing the symptoms of the senior, their preferences and the families expectations. Moreover, we train three caregivers at a point in the specific condition of the elderly to effectively navigate any unforeseen circumstances or emergencies of the assigned carer that requires prompt replacement. 

The challenge of finding elder care with a human touch

Our caregivers and carers are trained and ingrained with an approach wherein they assist your ageing loved ones as a family where no tasks taken is deemed big and small. This effectively eradicates the worries and anxiety of families regarding issues like neglect and abuse. Given that there is no hindrance to the carers’ responsibility towards the senior they are appointed to, additional responsibility is not a burden until and unless their services are not impaired and halted. 

The challenge of keeping caregivers motivated

We have regular counselling sessions with the staff and caregivers to keep a tab on how they are accommodating to the environment and if they are facing any specific challenges, and any scope for improvements. Our regular call sessions and counselling efforts keep the staff motivated and us updated on the happenings related to the elderly. 

The challenge of finding quick yet quality eldercare service

After hopping on a detailed call with the families regarding their requirements, we provide quick service to them, whether assigning a suitable carer or replacing an existing one, within 3 hours. Also, the families that connect with us and continue with our services get access to our other elder care services on a priority basis. 
As a senior living consultant & senior care service & equipment provider, we aim to make the families feel as comfortable and assured as possible with the at-home elderly care solutions we provide while ensuring that the elderly can enjoy dignified, independent, and happy living. If you are looking for elderly care services at home or a home attendant for the elderly, contact us for more details! We have tailored made programs suiting your requirements best.

senior care services

Making independent at-home living possible for your ageing loved ones

In the quest to find the best care for the elderly, the most important thing we consider is their overall well-being and improving their capability to live independently. One wants to ensure that their ageing loved ones are equipped with the necessary resources, tools and assistance to enjoy unhindered quality living while also maintaining their independence. 

SeniorCareGenie, with our comprehensive elder care services, facilitate at-home independent living to be possible for the seniors. Our senior care solutions, along with our one-of-a-kind approach rooted in companionship and building relationships, ensure that the elderly can access whatever they need to realize the meaning of ‘independent living’ in their routines truly. Following are the ways we are contributing to making senior living comfortable, manageable and more convenient. 

The assistance of a caregiver

The help and assistance of a trained caregiver can truly be a gamechanger for promoting independent living for the elderly. It ensures not only skilled supervision of their health and prompt response during emergencies but also consistent support with daily living activities. Thus, helping the senior navigate the constraints of everyday life caused by their regressing bodily function, strength or memory. 

SeniorCareGenie enables this to an even higher degree of optimacy by first understanding the requirements of the elderly and then providing them with the caregiver trained to fulfil their specifications. Thus, offering customized elder care solutions to the unique expectations and lifestyle of the seniors and their families. 

Companionship

Everyone needs companionship, especially with older age when one wants to feel heard and acknowledged, more so because they become more emotionally vulnerable and sensitive. Our customized senior care programs cater to this aspect of elderly care by offering companionship of skilled caregivers, who interact, help and spend quality time with them.  Be it help with daily life chores, a walk in the park, assistance with unforeseen circumstances or booking appointments, independent living becomes possible and easier for the seniors with the help of a trained companion by their side. 

Elderly medical equipment

Equipment stands crucial for maintaining and checking the elderly’s health and providing them convenience in their daily life activities like walking. They become the source for better managing their condition to analyze their various health parameters closely. SeniorCareGenie provides multiple medical equipment for the seniors ranging from wheelchairs, walkers, emergency bells to something more advanced for specific health conditions like dementia. 

At-home sample collection & additional services

The ability to go about their lives normally by being able to access whatever they need at the tip of their fingers is essential for the independent living of the elderly. SeniorCareGenie ensures this for the seniors by making it possible for them to contact plumbers, electricians, drivers, and other personnel for home-related services promptly and conveniently. Additionally, our at-home sample collection and report delivery service for medical tests make a hassle-free living even more plausible as routine health checks are essential for seniors, and we make it more manageable for them. 

Hence, we don’t just offer senior care services but create comfortable experiences for the elderly wherein they are assisted, supervised, supported and attended to without any lags or scope of negligence. Our solutions are holistic and caters to all the difficulties an elder and their family might face through personalized programs made for them specifically. 
As senior living consultants and holistic eldercare service providers, we emphasize relaying the right information to families and customizing our solutions to their unique expectations. The comfort and well-being of the elderly is our first priority. Our processes that involve continued support, thorough analysis of senior’s condition, a unique caregiver training approach, and more are testament to that.

Our Home Care Services

Older Care at Home, for example, Senior Care Genie, helps with daily living exercises like washing, toileting, taking care of, strolling and so forth. We at Senior Care Genie go about as a nearby ally to your friends and family and are sympathetic about keeping up great cleanliness, diet, and prescriptions as guided by you or your family specialist. Home consideration assumes an active part in advancing the emotional wellbeing of your cherished one through different exercises, for example, by tuning in and conversing with them. To give the best consideration to mature age individual, we make passionate associations with them and inject with a significant degree of persistence and amiability. 

Indeed, it is now and again hard to recognize that your parent/cherished one has arrived at this stage throughout everyday life, except they would require constant caretaking or long haul help. We comprehend and have created plans for home consideration for the older that advance their autonomy while dealing with them in the solace of their own homes. By assessing your adored one’s medical services needs and work with you and your PCP, we foster an arrangement that is best for them, regardless of whether regularly or on an occasional visit, to guarantee they have proceeded with prosperity. 

We will likely loan some assistance to the individuals who have restricted opportunity to deal with the family’s wellbeing because of their expert responsibilities or don’t live near their folks. With our senior resident home consideration administrations for the old, we guarantee significant consideration of your folks by continually observing their state of being and aiding in diminishing their visits to the clinic by getting sorted out visits to your home by a Doctor or a Nurse or a Physiotherapist, and so on. 

Mature Age Care 

Fundamental Healthcare cum Companionship by our staff can be benefited during Day or Night or on Resident/24 hour’s premise; to take significant consideration of wellbeing including care of cleanliness, diet, medicine, real help with developments with walker/wheelchair, light back rub. 

Dementia Care 

We give specific consideration to elderly folks with neuro-degenerative confusion administrations or Alzheimer. We go about as the mind for your adored one and help cognitive battle decline, keep them engaged with the psychological exercises, and ceaselessly take care of them to stay away from any untoward occurrence. 

Parkinson Care 

Extraordinary Care Genie gives particular consideration to older folks with less authority over neuromuscular developments. As their arms/legs shudders, such seniors need actual help for eating, sitting, strolling, dozing to forestall falling/slipping. It is just that somebody remains around during any real work. 

Incapacitated Patient Care 

Care for semi or entirely laid up elderly’s. We help in practically all daily living exercises on the bed and forestall them for additional medical problems through constant situating, back rub, activities, and developments in-and-around to the degree conceivable, to keep away from spontaneous disintegration in wellbeing. 

Domiciliary Care 

Get individual consideration for seniors at your own home, directly from the help with washing and dressing toward the beginning of the day to support toileting during the day. With our domiciliary consideration administrations, let us help seniors in keeping up their satisfaction and freedom. Senior Care Genie, an Old age base in and on Delhi, has guaranteed to give the accompanying offices in any event, during the thickest of the occasions: 

Guardian for Elderly at Home 

Regarding the reasonable yet powerful consideration for the seniors in the solace of their own home, our group of expert older allies for care at home or assistants for mature age individual can help with the most significant level of administrations for everyday necessities and prerequisite. Our home chaperons and guardians for older give top tier care – covering every one of the necessities, including the physical, mental and social exercises. Regardless of whether it’s very own cleanliness, assembly, washing and taking care of, or including patient into specific exercises for mental consideration, our chaperons furnish them with all. 

Specialist Visit At Home 

On the off chance that you or your cherished one is going through clinical treatment and require a specialist’s intercession consistently or need an overall wellbeing check in light of ailment or illness; we at Senior Care Genie assist you with getting a specialist who will visit and treat them in the solace of home. By mentioning a specialist visit at home, you can keep away from the versatility and hanging tight issues for you and your friends and family. 

Nursing Care at Home 

Searching for nursing support in your own home? Senior Care Genie assists you with naming prepared and qualified medical caretakers for home nursing care at your doorsteps. Get clinical consideration by the group of attendants and specialists for patients in their own homes. Return home nursing visits for essential reference and methods like oxygen organization, tracheotomy care, support on a ventilator, urinary catheterization, NG feed, wound dressings, infusions and so forth.  

Senior Care Genie is there to help and support every one of the elderly folks anytime confronting inconvenience.

Impact of Covid on care homes

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had its repercussions on, for all intents and purposes, all spaces of human life, this emergency has mainly featured the need to answer the everyday difficulties looked by our seniors- especially those in the old age home. Senior Care Genie, an elder care home in Delhi provides care services in and around NCR. 

As India tries to open more number of old age centers, sufficient measures to guarantee the security and prosperity of the elder residents have been set up that have straightforwardly affected interest and development. Fundamentally, COVID-19 has sped up this line of business. A few older individuals don’t live with their youngsters. Their guardians have gotten back. They have no homegrown assistance, especially if they live in areas of interest or regulation zones. Keeping a family is a test for the majority of them. In a senior living local area, every one of their necessities is dealt with. There are clinical benefits available to them. During the initial phases of the pandemic, there was some entire staff living inside the compound to guarantee no one enters or leaves, making it a place of refuge. In particular, there are companions to spend time with inside the local area. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had its repercussions on basically all spaces of human life, this emergency has mainly featured the need to answer the everyday difficulties looked at by our elders. Old age citizens, who represent practically 10% of our populace, are restless due to the determined admonitions that the infection will, in general, be more extreme among the older. Nonetheless, it isn’t only the possible danger of contamination that keeps them fretful; there are a few who are wrestling with withdrawal, obliged development, and absence of accounts. In situations, for example, a senior living local area acts as the hero. Senior care Genie, an old age home in Delhi can come up with certain precautions amidst this pandemic.   

Senior living is about sound, agreeable and glad living inside an exceptional local area that gives the help and administrations that seniors need to appreciate an ideal living encounter. There are numerous fundamental offices that senior living networks convey to their inhabitants. With the assistance of their in-house groups, old living networks are prepared to take care of and give their occupants administrations, fundamental things, clinical supplies and security. Furthermore, actual exercise and social commitment are holding fast to physical removal standards to offer all-encompassing prosperity for the seniors. Computerized intercessions coordinated inside the local area consider scholarly incitement alongside admittance to loved ones outside the local area. This helps the occupant’s resolve and, therefore, their insusceptibility levels. 

Changing the eventual fate of elder citizens in India 

While the COVID-19 pandemic has set off a lot of interest among individuals in senior living networks in India, the development of this section is likewise a result of the way that the number of inhabitants in senior residents is expanding bit by bit. Today we have a better arrangement of senior residents who are quick to explore in mingling and are consistently watching out of approaches to keep themselves involved and improve their insight on some random point. 

Senior living networks are quick to zero in on the basics that work with the foundation and thriving in a feasible environment for seniors. Presently, the talk spins around finding a way to guarantee prosperity and open to the living of the old populace and distinguish plausible territories to infer financial worth out of this portion. 

Digging into how the business has been performing during the COVID-19 pandemic up until this point, it is suitable to express that the general wellbeing emergency will reshape the eventual fate of senior living in India. Following the interest, the inventory is expected to increment on the edges of metros and existing stock in level II and III urban areas. With autonomous seniors turning into demography, traditional old age homes lose grasp as individuals search for and manage independence in the exceptional senior living local area. 

This point of view and advanced inclination will probably speed up interest in senior living as the pandemic has underlined the old’s government assistance, security and need for friendship. The pandemic battles for seniors have involved battling fundamentals, overseeing without house help and uneasiness about existing and expected clinical issues. The requirement for homes in a set-up where these variables are dealt with is currently evident, consequently bringing about an ascent in the foundation of these networks. An improved living encounter, for example, this for the old has brought about expanded interest for senior living networks. During COVID-19, enquiries for homes, both for rental and buy, have seen the vertical bend. Likewise, land engineers are hoping to expand their portfolio and offer a more separated item blend inside their coordinated municipalities. Henceforth, there is an expanded craving for accomplice specialist co-ops who have the skill in planning, advertising, serving and giving the medical care needs to occupants of a senior living local area. 

With expanded administrative and strategy support from the public authority and venture from private area elements, every one of these variables could change senior living as a dawning industry for India.

A tale of conviction of a man who came to Gurgaon from Kolkata in search of better care for her wife during these tough times.

‘Please help me find a hospital bed for my wife, or else she will not be able to survive. I urgently need to admit her, but I am slowly losing hope with no visible way ahead’.

This is the blaring plea for support and help that we woke up to at the quiet hour of 1:00 am on 19th February 2021. The man (37) we heard on the other side of the phone is a husband, a father and an unfaltering human who was trying his best to reach anyone who could help his wife (35) cope with her deteriorating state of health due to Covid-19.  

He travelled the long distance to Gurgaon from Kolkata to meet his friend. Unfortunately, the visit had something else in store for them, with his wife’s condition worsening by the minute but no viable option ahead for admission to a hospital due to limited availability, despite his unwavering efforts and search.  

The grief in his voice and his persistence could be felt through the phone call, and we quickly realized that something needed to be done and that too fast. To support him in the best possible manner that we would, we decided to meet him in front of Medanta Hospital, after relaying to him that we might only be able to provide limited assistance since we deal with only medical equipment. We met him and understood his wife’s condition, and were able to get her admitted to a nursing home by around 3-3:30 am on the morning of 20th February along with a constant supply of oxygen throughout this period and beyond.  

During this critical time, when things were looking tough for the couple with emotional vulnerability at peak, we deemed it fit to make constant visits to them to provide some sort of support in that bleak situation. Fortunately, the wife was able to make it through the following nights with her oxygen levels improving that had previously fallen to 40-45%, but her organs were severely impacted, shrouding her recovery in uncertainty.  

On 27th February, we once again received a call from him while he was in an ambulance, but this time relaying the message that he was going back to Kolkata to seek better care for her wife since he was unsure of her recovery in Gurgaon. Unexpectedly, he requested our address from us, and within some time, he was there, in front of our house with the entire ambulance to relay his gratitude for the support during the times he was feeling helpless.

His words and gestures still resound with us, ‘ Shweta and Akash, I don’t know If I will meet you ever again, but I will always remember the help you gave me when all hope escaped me. I am thankful for the extra days I get to spend with my wife, talk with her and really cherish these extra moments. You have helped me in ways nobody could’.

This is how he bid goodbye to us while on his journey back home, with our last aid to him being the food we provided to him since he had not eaten well for the past few days. 

Since then, we have tried calling him without being able to get through, but we know that this strong couple is trying their best to survive this difficulty together, more so when their daughter is awaiting them in Kolkata. For now, we wish and pray for the recovery of this family and the many more whose lives and health have been affected by this pandemic.

We don’t ever want anybody to feel hopeless, directionless or even helpless during these challenging times, and if somebody finds themselves in this situation, we want you to know we are here to help you in ways we can, which is a sentiment that many might resonate with given the kind of support we are observing within the community.  

And this the reason why we continue doing what we do- comforting, assisting and supporting people amidst these trying times and beyond. 

elder care homes

How to ensure the right care for the elderly amidst Covid-19

With the Covid-19 wave taking over the world at a tremendous pace, the health of individuals, especially children and the elderly, have been put at great risk, creating uncertainty, fear and a need to stick to the guidelines outlined by the authorities. ‘Prevention is better than cure ‘ never held more relevance than today, with social distancing, lockdowns, and curfews becoming the new norm in a fight to control the growing number of cases. Every facet of our lives are affected, the senior citizens are even more exposed to the potential threats pertaining to their emotional, physical and social wellbeing. 

According to reports and statistics, the risk of mortality and susceptibility to the coronavirus for older people is at a far greater magnitude, making it essential for the right care to be deployed to them, whether it be within one’s home, elder care homes or retirement homes. The distance from loved ones, unavailability of skilled home attendant for the elderly, existing medical conditions, make the whole situation more challenging, magnifying the gravity of the impact both in terms of a possibility of worsening state of health and the quality of daily living. The same isolation needed to contain the spread of the virus can become the cause of many other issues for the aged, thus there is a dire need for urgent attention to the elderly’s psycho-social health. Following are the few ways in which the right support can be ensured for the seniors during these tough and challenging times:

Maintaining the elderly’s dignity & respect

During this especially sensitive time, it is essential to make the elderly feel acknowledged and heard through rightful communication. The ongoing circumstances might emotionally drain you, but being responsive, respectful, attentive to the various needs of the elderly would positively impact the psychological and emotional health of the seniors. The last thing you would want to do to aggravate their situation is to disregard them and treat them with disrespect, something which shouldn’t take a global pandemic for you to realize. 

Following the prescribed rules

Abiding by the rules and guidelines released by the authorities is not something to be contemplated but followed positively. When the impact of your actions can travel to other people in the form of onset of symptoms of a deadly disease, maintaining social distancing should not be an idea to be toyed with and moulded as per one’s convenience. The most basic way one can ensure the elderly’s betterment during Covid-19 is by not becoming the probable cause of virus transmission by observing rules you are supposed to follow.   

Including them in the conversation

Answer the questions the elders of your family have from you and make them an active part of the conversation by enlightening them about the various guidelines and measures conveyed by the authorities. Make them aware of sanitizing, keeping away from stoves when applying alcohol-based sanitizers, and maintaining basic hygiene.

Seeking the help of technology

Understand the medical requirement of the elderly and make the required preparations, like booking online consultations or telephonic appointments with doctors as per their condition. Discuss with their doctors the best way moving forward to keep their body healthy and their medical condition from deteriorating.

Social distancing, not social isolation

Social distancing should not be confused with social isolation. It should be ensured that the sudden disruptions in the elderly’s daily life like visiting a temple, walking in the garden, sitting in parks, doesn’t cause any negative repercussions on their mental peace. Help them keep in touch with relatives and friends, grandkids, children in the family through video calls to bring about an environment of joy where they are occupied with something they enjoy.  

Keeping stock of medicines

Depending upon the health of the elderly, they could be heavily dependent on daily medication for basic functioning and to prevent it from getting hampered; it is crucial to stock up on their prescriptions medicines as advised by the doctor. Also, keep an eye on the expiry dates of these medicines and don’t engage in panic buying. Be proactive about it while maintaining reason and caution.

Keeping them occupied & engaged

Make the senior citizens indulge in activities as basic as watering the plants, playing with kids, reading books, knitting, cleaning the bookshelf, helping with little chores around the house, to not let the feeling of isolation overpower them. Avoid them from participating in strenuous activities as something mild but engaging would do without running the risk of an injury. 

Spreading positivity

Keep your home environment, mind and things surrounding you like social media to be free from negativity. Ensure the same for your ageing loved ones by not spreading false rumours and forwards on platforms like WhatsApp.  

Ensuring optimal rest, activity & nutrition

Proper sleep, adequate nutrition and optimal intensity of exercises are important to be maintained the way they were before lockdown or social distancing. Seniors can do yoga, meditation and other forms of low-intensity activities to enable good health of their body and some break from the monotonous routine of daily life while being restricted in the four walls of one’s home.

Senior Care Genie provides holistic solutions for the elderly that includes guiding families with better decision making regarding the optimal care for their ageing loved ones, the formalities associated with the transition & move-in process to care homes, at-home blood investigations and skilled nursing support and medical equipment for the elderly at their homes. We are working to create a better future for the elderly where all aspects of their wellbeing are maintained by empowering one family at a time with the right information, assistance and resources.

senior care services

Being an elderly in Covid-19: the epidemic of social isolation & engaging activities to counter it

Amidst the exponential spread of Covid-19 various jarring scenarios have unfolded in front of our eyes, presenting a larger picture of the somewhat broken healthcare system and its inadequacies to cater to the ageing and socio-economically backward section of our society. While the lines were always blurred when it came to the elderly in terms of resources, senior care services, support, uplifting schemes available to them, but the pandemic has jolted the nation awake to the blaring pleas of the seniors who are often deemed and treated as a liability.   

Impact of the pandemic on the elderly

At this juncture of the pandemic, healthcare has not been relayed as a collective responsibility but rather as an individual effort, which fails to consider the vulnerability of our elderly populace. The seniors are scared to step out of their homes since they are more likely to be impacted, keeping them helpless about fulfilling their daily life needs. Whether it be an at-home setting or an old age home in Gurgaon, Mumbai or any other parts of the country, there has not been a qualitative attempt to maintain the overall well-being of the elderly due to lack of knowledge, ignorance and a prevalent ideology of disregarding the comfort of seniors during tough times. Those who live with their families or are more financially well off may still be able to retain their quality of life even within the constraints of their home, but that makes up a minuscule percentage of our population. Those who are not so privileged have been subjected to isolation, neglect, abuse and overall exposure to the sad reality of their redundancy in a nation with 136.64 crore people yet nobody to pay heed to their concerns. 

The financial dependency, degeneration of bodily functions, susceptibility to chronic and acute diseases makes the situation worse, especially when no mention of the elderly is found in government initiatives and considerations. This mute battle of stigma and ignorance associated with ageing is an age-old phenomenon that has taken the form of a raging issue at hand: the dire state of the elderly during the pandemic. At this point, there is much to be considered and undertaken to ensure that this negligence and incompetence of our healthcare system and government bodies, to reckon with and resolve the unique difficulties of the seniors, doesn’t leave the ageing hopeless to the relief they need. 

Fortunately, certain groups, NGOs, and individuals have been coming to the rescue of the older people in helping them fulfil their daily needs, with online doctor consultations becoming the new norm along with social distancing. However, the issue by large still remains unresolved at a nationwide scale with the further scope of improvement in our approaches even at homes. There are various measures that families can take to collectively play their part in maintaining quality living for the aged to ensure the right care for them as they are more likely to suffer from deteriorating social and emotional health. One step towards providing the required welfare for seniors is to give them attention, listen to their concerns and keep them engaged in activities. 

Here are few points highlighting the ways of engaging seniors and keeping them occupied to navigate emotional vulnerability due to the physical and mental isolation induced by the pandemic. 

  1. Make your ageing loved ones familiar with technology to enable them to access the outside world online while ensuring that they remain well aware of the rampant false rumours and news, especially on Facebook and WhatsApp.
  2. Plan activities that one can do with family and create daily rituals where everyone comes together, such as playing carrom, cards, ludo, chess and other games. This way, the elderly would have something to look forward to, and they will not feel left out.
  1. Have a morning routine where everyone does some sort of exercises, including mild activities like yoga and meditation for elderly parents and grandparents.
  1. Make good use of video calls to keep them connected to other family members and incorporate humour in their life by watching movies and providing them companionship. 
  1. Reading, writing, and collective or individual hobbies like gardening and knitting can also effectively keep the seniors away from dwelling too much about their movements being confined to their home.

Senior Care Genie is striving to improve the quality of elderly living by empowering families to make the best decisions regarding senior care. Be it finding the right old age home or care at-home and elderly medical equipment, we are a one-stop solution for ensuring the most suitable care for families’ ageing loved ones that match their healthcare requirement and budget.