Are you a caregiver struggling with looking for long-term care options in Singapore? You might want to read on and find out how home care can solve the many issues you face as a caregiver.

The current healthcare system in Singapore relies heavily on institutions such as hospitals. While they are effective in treating acute diseases such as tuberculosis, they might not be the best option for treating lifestyle diseases. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and stroke are known as lifestyle diseases. They are not contagious and thus, hospitals are not the most suitable option to treat lifestyle diseases like diabetes and stroke. Institutions are not dealing with our chronic health problems effectively and this is evidenced by the lack of long-term care options, bed crunch in the hospitals and expensive long-term care.

Here are some issues caregivers often face:

• Lack of awareness for long-term care options

Many caregivers lack the awareness of long-term care options like home care. This is because the first point of contact for healthcare issues are institutions e.g. clinics or hospitals. Many caregivers are only aware of nursing homes and community hospitals as their options for long-term care. Not many are aware of home care as a viable option.

• Long waiting time and queues at hospitals

When caregivers faced an emergency, for example, the dislodgement of a feeding tube or a fever, the first instinctive decision is to go to an A&E. However, going to an A&E is not the most viable option because you have to wait for hours before seeing the doctor and wait a few more hours for a hospital bed.

However, these issues you face can be solved with home care services. Home care nurses or home doctors are able to solve these minor issues for you. You save hours of waiting time and transportation fees to bring your loved ones to the A&E.

• Expensive Long-Term Care Costs

Many institutions like nursing homes and community hospitals are expensive despite government subsidies. A private nursing home will cost about $1,200 – $4,500 a month without the benefits of privacy and freedom because nursing homes are strictly routinised.

Solution: Home Care

Keeping our loved ones at home amongst family is the most preferable option for most families. However, with our current healthcare model, it is difficult. Caregivers will have to deal with the strain and stresses of shuttling their loved one for doctors’ appointments, learning how to care for a patient at home and the financial burden of long-term cost. Caregiver’s stress should not be taken lightly as it affects all aspects of an individual’s life. You can check out our article on how to cope with caregiver burnout.

The solution to the issues caregivers faced is to engage in-home care services. You can check out our Careshield article on the price comparison between nursing home and home care services.

About Jaga-Me 

At Jaga-Me we believe in making healthcare accessible and available to everyone. We provide personalised and curated care for your loved ones. If you need a trained medical escort to accompany your loved ones for their medical appointments or a trained nurse to do nursing procedures, you can engage our home care services.

Let Jaga-Me share your caregiving responsibility!

Award winning Home Care trusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me

People who criticise others for paying for home care need to know this: Home Care is an investment.

Here are some reasons people use home care that you might not have known.

1. Having access to health networks.

Generally, people do not have access to a professional to receive health advice. By using a supportive private home care provider, you can have access to all these nurses for health advice. For them, there is no question that is too small to ask. A platform of nurses allows you to get in contact with many different nurses. Nurses see a variety of cases and they can let you know the best options available. Going for a doctor’s consult only allows you that 15 minutes of consultation time, and it’s never enough to truly understand your condition. Google may be your best friend, but it never tells you what you need to know specifically for your condition.

Nurses are actually a good alternative as many of them have direct contact with countless patients. Chances are, they might have good alternatives and choices through their observations. Nurses are also licensed professionals. They undergo training, most of them have a diploma or degree. Why not get some insights from them?

2. Quality of care

Not many need help in caregiving until they really need it. However, when it’s urgent, would you want to rush and pay exorbitant prices and yet have sub-standard quality care? By opting to utilise home care services early, you will have the time to assess and evaluate the quality of care provided. This is advantageous compared to an emergency where the home care services of the first available provider are often sought.

Furthermore, with domestic helpers, competence is always a question. While adept at handling household tasks, communication barriers and inadequate knowledge may be detrimental in terms of proper medical care. In fact, ignorant help will do more harm than good, causing more costs in the long run with dire consequences.

3. Convenience

Home care may cost more, but taking leave and being unavailable at your workplace might cost even more. Many people face the struggle of shuttling their senior parents for medical appointments, day care, or rehabilitation clinics. Sometimes, it’s hard to trust even family members who might not know what to ask in the doctor’s visit, or even to pass down vital medical or care instructions. Being in such dilemmas can often be soul-sucking.

For example, imagine Sally. Sally is a senior manager in a huge Company. Sally earns about $40/hour. She gets a reminder that she needs to bring her mother to see the doctor tomorrow, but she has already taken too many off days during her mother’s hospitalization prior. Using home care for $21-25/hour, Sally saves an off day and the frustration of coordinating her schedule to fit all these appointments.

Why not save your off-days for days where you can really spend quality time with your family? After all, it is an opportunity cost, and we choose which benefits us the most.

4. Have home care solutions created for you

Many people are grateful for home care advice on hindsight. Home care problems cannot be solved using a one-size-fits-all approach. It has to be tailored according to the needs and preference not just for the patient, but the family members as well.

We had a client who told us that she did not know home care could be much better when we organised care for her and her family. Because of that, her family has more rest time. In fact, we did not change any care instructions, but because of the vast experience in home care the care coordinator had, she was able to shorten and condense the tasks for her.

5. Person-centred care

As much as we want the healthcare system to serve us better, we know that we have to submit to the healthcare system according to her schedule. Have you ever felt that you need help but your specialist appointment is only 2 months later? In facing such problems of healthcare in Singapore, you are definitely not the first. This is because the institutions are systems in place to help the public at large. It is truly difficult to have the system tailored to the individual.

But with home care, resources are dedicated for an individual. Therefore, the focus on the patient makes care so personalised, care becomes manageable and less confusing. How? When you use home care consistently, the home care coordinator is able to set care goals for the patient. As a person’s condition changes, their care needs change along with it. With home care, all these are managed and followed up by the care coordinator.

The next time you know someone using home care, ask them about it and get to know what it’s like! Home care is the kind of person-centred care that we’ve, here at Jaga-Me, always wanted, and expected of our healthcare.

If you need any help understanding more about how home care can help you, or to enquire about the type of home care services available in Singapore, talk to us about it! You can call us at:

Contact: +65 8498 4598

or email is at:

Email: homecare@jaga-me.com

And our friendly and more than knowledgeable nurse coordinators will attend to your enquiries about booking home care services with us! Kick-start your home care today! Request a care assessment from our friendly care coordinator!

Award winning Home Care trusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me

Conversations with a Home Care Nurse

Meet Nani – one of our sweetest customer experience coordinator in Jaga-Me. She is one of the voices behind the phone when you call into our hotline. For Intl Nurses Day 2019, she will be sharing her insights and experience working in the nursing industry for the last 20 years.

What is your day like working as a home care nurse?

Challenging! But when I see my patients smile, I gain a sense of satisfaction and happiness. I think many of us (nurses) often put others as a priority before ourselves. I feel like this is my responsibility as a nurse and even though being a nurse is challenging, it is also extremely rewarding.

What are some responsibilities that nurses do that you wish others will appreciate you more for it?

Many people have the stereotypical idea of nurses as helpers or just an assistant to the doctors. We are so much more than that. We are always on the ground to provide medical care and advice, we take care of our patients’ daily needs such as toileting and bathing. You know we are a literal information desk for patients or family members? Haha. We are everything.

As nurses or medical professionals in general, we are always meeting patients and their families from different walks of life. And we are interacting with them at a period when they are at their lowest. We have to care for the patient and give them the assurance they need at an extremely trying time in their life. As nurses, we need to be more empathetic and conscious of their emotional well-being as well.

As Home Care Nurses, we are more than just rendering medical services. We have to teach and empower caregivers on how to care for their loved ones when we are not there for them. We are also here to listen to them and give them a shoulder to cry on if they are burnt out and stressed out. We are like a sponge – we absorb everything.

I wish that more patients and their caregivers treat nurses with respect because we are not their maids or helpers. We are not responsible for doing household chores, we are here to provide medical care. We deserve respect and care too!

Was there any incident that a patient has mistreated you or was rude to you?

Yes! Many nurses actually receive verbal and physical abuse from some patients. Once a patient threw a water container at me. He was frustrated that the nurses did not attend to him promptly and unfortunately, I was the unlucky one walking past.

So how did you approach the situation?

Obviously, I was extremely angry. But I kept my cool and tried my best to understand why he was upset because retaliating does not get you anywhere. One of my advice to my fellow nurses is to stay calm in any kind of situation.

Many people have this stereotypical image of a nurse as you mentioned earlier on but what does a “nurse” mean to you?

The word “nurse” means compassion, selflessness and bringing a person back to health. A nurse means so much more than what it seems on the surface. In fact, every nurse is unique in their own ways. We have own strengths and interests in our line of work. We have nurses who are doers and nurses who thrive in research or nursing education. Nurses are enriched with information and knowledge as well. So we are here to care for you in times of need and to empower you with knowledge on how to care for yourself or your loved one as well.

Read how some families make aging at home work.

At Jaga-Me, we believe that healthcare should be a social good – it is a basic human need, and should be available to as many people as possible. We aim to deliver the highest quality care through innovation and a commitment to building meaningful relationships.

Save travelling and long wait times at the hospitals. Get specialised medical treatments:
– Urinary Catheterisation
– Complex Wound Care
– Nasogastric (NG) Feeding Tube
– IV Infusion Therapy

Jaga-Me: Your Trusted Medical Home Care Professional

This is my story on the morning my dad suffered a stroke and how home care saved our family.

It was a Sunday morning in August 2016, when my sister dashed into my room and jolted me awake. “Mei, come out now!” She exclaimed. Despite being in a half-awoken state, I noticed her trembling voice and watery eyes, and I knew immediately that something was terribly wrong.

I dashed out to the hall and saw my mother standing, and my father seated on the sofa. In my head, i was wondering, what’s wrong? No one fainted. This thought flashed through my mind in that split second as I rushed towards my parents and saw my father having an unusual look in his eyes, with his mouth crooked and half of his body shaking uncontrollably.

“He’s having a stroke! What do we do?” My mom and sister cried. I called the ambulance right away. As as we left the house with the medics, I knew at that point, that our lives is never going to be the same again. The darkest period in my entire twenty-one years of life would begin from this moment.

The Diagnosis

After consulting our doctor, we found out that my dad had unfortunately suffered from major Hemorrhagic Stroke which resulted in serious brain swelling. He had to undergo Craniotomy surgery (removal of bone flap to allow brain to swell outwards instead of compressing the other part of the brain). He remained in the Intensive Care Unit for a month before getting transferred to the general ward for the next three months.

Coping and Moving Forward

As a full-time student at that time, I had to rush down to the hospital every single day after school to see my dad. I did my work in the ward and leeched onto free (but unstable) Wi-Fi as much as I could. My sister at times went by days without being able to visit my dad due to her long working hours. My mom, in her 50s, for four entire months, travelled to the hospital every single day without fail and stayed there from noon till night; even the hospital security guards chased her away. As much as the freedom to go anywhere we want were robbed from us, my dad meant too much to us to not be by his side when he needed us the most.

With his vital stats stabilising over the next 3 months, the hospital urged us to bring him home as he did not require any more medical care. Most family members would be delighted to hear this piece of news, but this statement from the hospital seemed more like a bomb that dropped on us. With my father’s physical and mental capacities taken away by the stroke, going home seemed impossible for us. How are we going to take care of him at home? Who is going to monitor him 24/7? Are we skilled enough to do so? What if something happens at home? All these questions flooded through our minds. We had no idea what home care was. We were resistant to this idea because we believed that the hospital was the only place that my dad could receive proper care at, that our minds could at least be at ease with the doctors and nurses around.

The decision to engage in home care services

After exhausting every alternative, we decided to hire a home caregiver and brought our dad home after 4 months of hospitalisation.

Today, after 6 months of home care for my dad, I say this is the best decision we could have made.

With medical supplies readily available in Singapore (we fortunately receive medical subsidies from the government and claims from insurance), my dad is now comfortably at home getting cared for by our caregiver. The care and attention given to him by our caregiver is undivided and my family can now carry on with our daily activities with an ease of mind. We do not have to worry when our home caregiver takes leave as we are thankful that respite care services are readily available for my family. 

The thing about home care, is that we are able to get professional home care nurses to care for my dad in the comforts of our own homes. It is a tremendous relief to be able to get professionals to help us when we were clueless about being first time caregivers to stroke patients. Getting help also provided us the luxury of time and and ease of mind that our dad was properly taken care of by experienced stroke caregivers in Singapore.

Furthermore, being in a hospital makes him susceptible to bacteria and viruses especially when his immune system had weakened drastically due to his immobility, therefore we understood from many doctors that the community is the best place for my dad to receive his care in.

On top of that, I am thankful for nurses within the community whom we can reach out to for care advices and clinical procedures that my dad may require from time to time, which greatly save us the hassle of transporting my dad to the hospital solely for something which could be easily done within the comfort of our home. Teleconsultation doctors also made our lives a lot easier.

Home is wherever the family is, and I can’t be thankful enough that with the advent of home care services, my dad is home with us without compromising on the care that he is receiving.

Lastly, before I end this post, I would like to mention that stroke can happen to anyone, regardless of age and gender. As the top 10 principle cause of death in Singapore, according to Ministry of Health, it is crucial to educate ourselves and recognise warning signs and symptoms of stroke.  We need to know and seek medical treatment promptly and learn how to mitigate the after-effects of stroke. Be alert, and save a life today.

Note: I chose to be anonymous in this story, but here’s hoping that my experiences would be able to to help you in your caregiving journey, and help you understand more about home care services.

Award winning Home Care trusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me

At Jaga-Me, we believe that healthcare should be a social good – it is a basic human need, and should be available to as many people as possible. We aim to deliver the highest quality care through innovation and a commitment to building meaningful relationships.

1. Credibility

Credibility is one of the most important factors when choosing a home care provider to ensure quality care services. To ensure you get the best care for your loved one, you should look for reliable and dependable home care platforms that enforce credibility in their healthcare professionals. For example, their nurses should have valid practising certificates with relevant working experiences. These certifications are by regulatory boards that can provide you with some indication of the standard of services provided. For example, Jaga-Me, a home care platform that connects families to nurses, ensure that all their nurses have at least 2 years of experience in institutions, as well as certified from Singapore Nursing Board. If your family member requires medical procedures on top of care services, you will likely prefer a certified professional to be deployed to your home.

Ask your ward nurse or doctor. They know your patient best, and would be able to make a well-informed recommendation to a home care service to support the care needs of your loved one. As healthcare professionals in the field, your nurses and doctors know who are the better providers around, so be sure to ask who they work with most often!

Another way of determining the credibility of a home care provider is to look at online company reviews and testimonials. Nothing beats the personal experiences of other caregivers who have walked in the shoes you are walking in now. The ratings that come from past users can provide you with some insights into the quality of the company’s services. This can help you make a more informed decision on which home care provider is more suitable for you. Furthermore, if the company has coverage in media, or has won any healthcare or service awards, the credibility of the company is much more enforced.

2. Affordability

Engaging in health care services for your loved one can be financially taxing on you and your family especially if you require a long term care provider. According to a 2016 Straits Times article, home care services providing personal care range from $22 to $30 an hour. However, home care do bring about benefits that can outweigh the costs. For example relieving you of caregiver burnout, or ensuring that your loved one get the best care possible from professional skilled caregivers. In making your decision, consider the amount of money you are willing and able to fork out for this purpose, and check which organisations can provide you with quality care services at an affordable market rate.

Financial costs may be a barrier for many of you. However, do not let this stop you from finding the best care services for the needs your family member. There are many home care services Singapore that can be both reliable and affordable as well.

Government grants and financial assistance schemes

There are many financial schemes and assistance programmes available in Singapore. Find out the different Singapore elderly grants and subsidies here! 

3. Meeting your needs

If you have never been a caregiver, it may be difficult to understand what services you may need to cater to the needs of your loved one. First, ask yourself what daily activities he/she needs help in, including mobility needs (if applicable), and what medical supervision or procedures are necessary. For example, your diabetic mother with mobility issues needs her medication administered, and an insulin injection when you are at work. You will need someone who you trust to do these when you are out. With your loved one’s needs in mind, check out which agencies or companies offer such services and choose the one you are most comfortable with. Even better, there are home care providers that can assess the needs of the patient and develop a comprehensive care plan dedicated to care for the patient.

Secondly, consider if there are any preferences your loved one has. A common consideration is if your elderly family member speaks only a certain language. You will need a caregiver who is familiar with the language or dialect and can interact well with your loved one. Remember, caregiving is not one way – the recipient has to be receptive of the service provided as well.

4. Required locations and time

Although Singapore is well-connected, some home care services connect you with their healthcare professionals who may work only in certain regions in Singapore. You may need to check with the home care providers whether you can hire a professional to come to your home at the necessary times, or that they provide home care services island wide. Do remember to plan ahead when you need a healthcare professional at home with your family member, as your home location and requested times may affect if a suitable healthcare professional is available.

Other agencies or companies may prefer that you have a regular schedule for their professionals to drop by, such as a home visit every Monday, rather than providing ad hoc services. Consider your needs carefully in these aspects so as to ensure you find the most suitable home care provider.

All in all, finding a suitable home care provider requires research on your part to find the best provider that match your needs. You must judge for yourself what you need and who provides you the best services for your requirements. Hopefully these 4 criteria provide you enough insights into choosing the most suitable home care provider for your family member. 

Award winning Home Caretrusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me

Understanding the treatment plan of your loved one gives you a clearer understanding of the success rate, and prepares you for the potential side effects at home between treatments.

Tests and doctor visits are usually scheduled between treatment sessions to monitor the progress of the treatment plan and manage side effects.

Generally, cancer treatments in Singapore include:

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Radiation Therapy
•  Targeted Therapy
• Immunotherapy

Why is My Loved One Experiencing These Side Effects? Will they go away?

Treatments like chemotherapy or radiation therapy may destroy healthy, non-cancerous cells in the process of killing cancerous ones, which are experienced in the form of the side effects.

Most side effects tend to go away gradually once the treatment has been completed. You may support your loved one undergoing cancer treatment by monitoring potential side effects and providing feedback to the doctor on the next visit. This helps to minimize discomfort from the treatments as much as possible, and allow the doctors to assess the cancer treatment.

Some of these side effects are:

Nausea and vomiting

Anti-nausea and anti vomiting medicine can help to curb the effects. Although this is usually life-threatening, frequent and prolonged nausea can lead to dehydration.

Seek medical attention promptly if your loved one has problems keeping food and fluids down, or is unable to take the medications provided to curb this symptom.

Fatigue

Lifestyle and dietary changes will be needed to manage the fatigue resulting from the cancer treatments. This may come in the form of decreasing workload, helping out with chores at home, providing a nutritious diet and ensuring that your loved one has adequate rest and sleep. In some cases, exercise may also be allowed if the doctor has given the green light to do so.

Pain

Most cancer pain can be well-managed through medications, and should not develop or become worse if taken as prescribed. Ensure your loved one takes them accordingly, and if it worsens or becomes unbearable, seek medical attention promptly.

Fertility/sexuality

As some cancer treatments can affect one’s ability to have children, you and your loved one may want to consult a doctor about family planning concerns prior to starting treatment. Your doctor can also advise accordingly on whether it is safe to continue with sexual intercourse, and whether any precautions should be taken, although there is no medical reason to do so in most cases.

An open talk about this topic with your loved one will also help him or her to feel supported during this period.

Appetite loss

Managing other side effects such as nausea, vomiting, pain and fatigue can help to improve appetite. Encourage your loved one to eat small, nutritious meals in this case.

You may also wish to consult a dietician on meal planning and ask for recommended nutritional supplements, if any.

Hair Loss

A shorter hairstyle, hats, wigs or scarves can assist your loved one to gradually accept the temporary hair loss.

Dryness of mouth

There are medications available to boost saliva production. At home, encourage your loved one to maintain good oral hygiene. A mouth rinse consisting of 1 teaspoon of salt with 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of warm water, especially after meals, can help to prevent infections.

Sipping on water also helps your loved one to stay hydrated. Do avoid drinks like alcohol and coffee that can cause dehydration.

Constipation

Staying hydrated, along with consuming fibre rich foods help to manage constipation, and these include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, raisins and prunes. A high-fibre diet, however, may not be suitable for someone who has undergone bowel surgery, or has a tumour that narrows the bowel.

If it is possible, encourage your loved one to engage in some light exercises as this can help to encourage healthier bowel movements.

Laxatives and stool softeners should not be used unless the doctor has given the clearance to do so.

Mental/Emotional side effects

Your loved one going through cancer treatment may also be anxious during this period due to the uncertainty of what to expect during and after the cancer treatment. He/she may also feel uncomfortable about relying on you and others to perform tasks and bear the medical costs.

One way to support your loved one in this aspect is to invite him to share his/her thoughts by writing about it or talking about it, or doing activities that he/she enjoys for a morale boost.

The Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) also offers group support to remind your loved one that he/she is not alone in their journey.

When should I call the doctor regarding the side effects? What’s an emergency?

If you notice the following signs of infection after the cancer treatment, seek medical attention immediately:

• Fever 38 degree celcius and higher
•  Shaking chills
• Chest pain or shortness of breath
• Confusion
• Severe headache with a stiff neck

Other serious side effects of cancer treatments that require medical attention are:

• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is a potentially life-threatening blood clot
• Pulmonary embolism (PE), which is a blood clot in the lung and a medical emergency
• Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), which is a life threatening vital organ injury

When in doubt, consult a doctor for advice promptly.

While juggling between caring for your loved one and maintaining your existing lifestyle can be a challenge, Jaga-Me is here to support you with home-based nursing care to support the recovery between treatments comfortably at home. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you and your loved one during the cancer treatment.

We recommend reading Living with Stage 3A: Surviving Breast Cancer.

References:

1.     Singapore Cancer Society (2016). Coping with the Side Effects. Retrieved from https://www.singaporecancersociety.org.sg/get-help/cancer-patient/cancer-and-me/coping-with-the-side-eff-ects.html

2.      American Society of Clinical Oncology (2018, March). Fear of Treatment-Related Side Effects. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.net/coping-with-cancer/managing-emotions/fear-treatment-related-side-effects

3.      American Society of Clinical Oncology (2018, July). When to Call the Doctor During Cancer Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/how-cancer-treated/when-call-doctor-during-cancer-treatment

At Jaga-Me, we believe that healthcare should be a social good – it is a basic human need, and should be available to as many people as possible. We aim to deliver the highest quality care through innovation and a commitment to building meaningful relationships.

Save travelling and long wait times at the hospitals. Get specialised medical treatments:
– Urinary Catheterisation
– Complex Wound Care
– Nasogastric (NG) Feeding Tube
– IV Infusion Therapy

Jaga-Me: Your Trusted Medical Home Care Professional

Growing up, our parents might have jokingly asked us if we would keep them by our sides and care for them in their old age.  We always responded with a resounding yes because our young minds could not fathom why this was even a question.

Fast forward to today, we might suddenly be faced with a conundrum. Should we send our elderly parent with growing medical needs and physical dependency to a nursing home? Or do we keep them by our sides and let them age in place?

Some adult children have little choice but to opt for the former arrangement because they feel inadequate to be effective caregivers, due to limited medical sensibility. Others insist on keeping their parents at home. However, they struggle to cope with the demands of caregiving, suffering from compassion fatigue as a result.

We do not have to dwell in these extremes when home care is becoming an increasingly accessible option. Even then, not many of us readily opting for home care. Could this be due to limited understanding of home care?  

Here we look into some of the pros and cons of home care to help you make a more informed decision:

Best of Both Worlds

With home care, your elderly parents do not have to trade the comforts of home for the safety of medical care. They can receive expert medical attention even while enjoying the ease of recovering in familiar surroundings. This lessens the mental and emotional load of having to adapt to their new situation and allows them to direct all their energy towards recovery.

Cons: Based on your elderly parent’s needs, your house might need to be outfitted with additional elderly-friendly facilities. There are additional monetary and spatial costs to consider for this.

There are also instances whereby an elderly patient might be suffering from special conditions. Ones that require medical specialists’ attention and it may go beyond the scope of the caregivers’ expertise.

To make an informed decision, first, assess your elderly parents’ needs. Secondly, discuss with home care providers to find out more about the suitability of home care for you.

Flexibility in Approach

The needs and level of dependence of an elderly individual vary from time to time. This means that you might find yourself being able to cope with caring for your elderly parent in some aspects but not others. At times, you might just want a short respite from caregiving responsibilities. Since home care services are available on demand, you enjoy the luxury of choosing when and where you would like to employ the help of a caregiver.

Personalised Care

When you opt for home care, your elderly parent will be assigned dedicated care coordinators. They are able to commit the time and effort to fully understand your elderly parents’ unique needs and cater accordingly, rather than using a homogeneous approach. You should also take the opportunity to assess the suitability of caregivers, identify what works best for you and what needs to change.

Cons: While your elderly parent stands to gain from personalised care, they could be forgoing the interactions and friendships that they may develop with counterparts in a nursing or day care facility. There is great value in the sense of community that arises from the shared experiences of elderly folks living together.

Nevertheless, home care providers these days are moving towards a culture of combining both caregiving and companionship. There are many heartfelt stories of caregivers and patients developing unique bonds and friendships. Meaning which, your elderly parent need not necessarily be missing out on that aspect.

To find out about home care services for yourself or someone you know, click here now! If you are not sure of how you can go about home care, give our Customer Service team a call at 6717 3737.

Award winning Home Care trusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me