Caregivers become an indispensable part of their patient’s lives since they look after them and ensure that they lead a normal life even with their health issues. Caregivers provide assistance to the elderly, differently-abled, the ailing, and even their family members when the need arises. They ensure that the individual goes about the day without experiencing any distress since they supervise and perform every small and big task.
A caregiver’s work is very challenging since each day needs a different task to be completed. However, there are certain duties that are integral to a caregiver’s profession, and they have to abide by these. Here are some vital duties that caregivers are expected to perform.
- Preparing a care plan
One of the first duties of caregivers is to prepare a care plan after gauging the patient’s strength and weaknesses. This is imperative since it provides them with an understanding of the patient’s requirements before the caregiving routine begins. This will help the caregivers in determining how much hours of care the individual needs. - Monitoring medications
Caregivers need to monitor the medication the individual takes; they have to ensure that they take the right medications at the right time and get a refill if these medications are over. - Assistance with basic needs
Since the patients are people who need assistance with their daily activities, caregivers are supposed to help them with the same. This might include helping them bathe, eat, dress, and administering medications. - Cooking and housekeeping
Caregivers are expected to help the patients with their household chores like cooking, doing the laundry, going grocery shopping, and cleaning the house. Each of these tasks is a part of caregivers’ duties. - Medical assistance
Many times, the patients require physical therapy or injections, and caregivers are expected to administer these. It is a caregiver’s duty to assist patients with physical therapy, feeding tubes, injections, and other medical processes. Also, caregivers are supposed to discuss the care plan with the doctors and care managers and should be equipped with a crisis or medical emergency. - Appointments and transportation
It is the caregiver’s duty to ensure that the patient makes the weekly or monthly scheduled visit to the doctor. Moreover, it is the caregiver’s responsibility of arranging transport for taking the patient to the doctor, or simply for an outing.
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How often should you check your sugar levels?
Read moreDiabetes is a growing problem, and every doctor suggests that diabetic patients should keep a regular check on their blood sugar levels if they want to keep their diabetes under control. For this purpose, diabetes tests are very important. With technology advancing so fast, keeping a check on sugar levels has become easier than before because of electronic devices that are available in the market.
When should you conduct a test to check the levels of your blood sugar?
Blood glucose should be frequently checked. But how often? Well, the answer to this depends on the type of diabetes that you are suffering from.- If the patient has type 1 diabetes, then the doctor usually advises the patient to test their blood sugar at least five to seven times a day. The doctor will direct the exact time of testing. Most doctors advise testing before and after meals, before and after exercise and other day-to-day activities to check the effect of these activities the blood sugar level. Self-diabetes tests come to the rescue when you have to test glucose levels many times daily.
- Patients who are administered insulin for treating their type 2 diabetes are usually advised by the doctors to undertake diabetes tests at least twice a day or even more depending upon several other factors. The time of testing is usually similar to type 1 diabetes, that is, before and after meals and sometimes even before going to bed. But sometimes patients can keep their type 2 diabetes under control without the use of insulin-based medications. For such patients, frequent checking of blood sugar is not always required.
- Apart from these two types, the frequency of testing blood sugar also depends on the severity of the condition and the age of the patient.
- For women who have gestational diabetes, diabetes tests follow a different pattern and usually vary from patient to patient although checking the blood sugar levels before and after meals is something that remains common to all form of diabetes.
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Choose the right digital hearing aid
Read moreIf you find yourself saying what! too many times a day, it may be time you get yourself a hearing aid. Hearing aids do not technically treat deafness but they amplify sounds and hence make them more audible. A digital hearing aid typically contains a computer chip with an amplifier that converts incoming sounds into a digital code. Based on your level of hearing loss and the ambient sounds around you, it amplifies the signals and reconverts it to sound waves. This is then played through speakers in your ears.
When it comes to buying a digital hearing aid, there is no universal solution and it must be customized to fit your ear size and lifestyle. There are six main types of hearing aids that you can choose between:
Completely-in-the-canal Hearing Aid: These types of hearing aids are molded to fit the inside of your ear and are virtually invisible. It is mainly used in cases of mild to moderate hearing loss.
PROs- Smallest and least visible hearing aid
- Does not amplify background noises such as wind
CONs- Highly susceptible to clogging by earwax
- No extra features e.g.: volume control
- Uses very small batteries with a short lifespan
In-the-canal Hearing Aid: This is a slightly larger hearing aid that is molded to fit inside the ear canal. It is used in cases of mild to moderate hearing loss.
PROs- Larger in size and hence easier to maneuve
- Easy to insert and remove
CONs- Susceptible to clogging by earwax
- Additional features may be difficult to control due to device size
In-the-ear Hearing Aid: These are prescribed in cases of moderate to severe hearing loss and are of two types: full shell and half shell. Full Shell hearing aids take up most of the bowl shaped part of the outer ear while half shell occupy only the lower half of this area.
PROs
- Easy to handle
- Easy access to volume controls and battery compartment
- Use a larger battery that has a longer battery life
CONs- Is usually quite visible
- Picks up more background noise
- Susceptible to speakers being clogged by earwax
Behind-the-ear Hearing Aid: This may be used to deal with almost any type of hearing loss. This type of digital hearing aid consists of two parts, one which rests behind the ear and the other that is custom fitted to sit in your ear canal. A small tube hooks over the ear to connect the two parts.
PROs- Capable of high levels of amplification
- Easy to handle and access
CONs- Visible to the naked eye
- Picks up a lot of background noise
Receiver-in-canal Hearing Aid: This is very similar to the above mentioned hearing aid except that a tiny wire is used to connect the two parts in place of the tube. This type of hearing aid is a little less conspicuous than the Behind-the-ear type.
The cost of a digital hearing aid can start from around $1500 and go on increasing depending on the number of features it has, accessories, remotes, professional fees, warranty, battery life, noise reduction etc. Ideally, ask for a trial period before you decide which hearing aid suits you the most.