Customized senior care plans are becoming increasingly popular as elder care becomes more individualized.
To create a customized senior care plan, you assess the senior’s needs and preferences, identify available resources, and then create a care plan with goals that address those needs.
Read on to learn more about how to build a customized senior care plan.
The Importance of Customized Care
Customized senior care allows seniors to receive the specific care and support that they need to live safely and comfortably in their own homes. It is important to meet the unique needs and preferences of each individual senior so they can maintain their independence, autonomy, and quality of life as they age.
Caring for aging loved ones can be stressful. Having a comprehensive plan in place can help reduce stress and improve the overall well-being of both the senior and their loved ones.
Customized care plans ensure that seniors receive the best possible care and support that aligns with their individual needs.
Building a Senior Care Plan
Building a senior care plan can be overwhelming at first. But when you break it down into simple steps, you can create a plan that reduces stress and enhances quality of life.
Identifying Care Needs
Care needs extend beyond just medical needs. When assessing a senior’s care needs, be sure to take into account the senior’s physical and cognitive abilities, medical history, social preferences, and daily living activities.
This includes assessing their ability to perform activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, and grooming. Some seniors may have more specialized needs, like medication management and mobility assistance.
Thoroughly identifying all of a senior’s care needs ensures their customized care plan provides an appropriate level of support.
Define Goals
Setting specific, measurable, and achievable goals helps seniors stay on track with their care plan. Setting goals also helps caretakers measure whether more or less care is needed based on the completion of goals.
Some examples of goals for seniors might be..
- Walk down the hallway and back using a cane twice per day.
- Participate in art class once per week.
- Take medications each morning with breakfast.
Goals may also be broader and less personal. For example, while identifying care needs, you may find a need for in-home help or assisted living services. If so, a goal may sound like “tour three assisted living communities next month.”
“Finalize” Care Plan
This combination of needs and goals represents a strong start to a senior care plan. Of course, as seniors’ needs are constantly changing, so will the care plan. New goals and protocols can be updated to fit new and evolving needs.
Expanding Current Care Options
As you identify new needs, your senior care plan will need to evolve. This may include incorporating new resources and services, including technology like telehealth, as well as community support and assisted living facilities.
Re-evaluate Level of Care Needed
Regularly assess needs and preferences, adjusting as needed. This can mean increasing or decreasing care services, adding or removing certain kinds of support, shifting schedules, and incorporating new leisure and social activities.
Since seniors’ needs consistently evolve, care plans should be revisited regularly to make sure they still support the best quality of life possible.
Ensure Social Needs Are Being Met
Many seniors experience loneliness, especially if they live alone. Amidst medication management, tasks of daily living, and medical monitoring, it is easy to forget social needs.
However, social needs are important for a senior’s overall well-being. If a current care plan leaves a senior feeling lonely, it will need to be adjusted so the senior feels more fulfilled.
Custom Care Services From Copeland Oaks
Have questions about customized care for seniors? Reach out to the team at Copeland Oaks.