CareLink helps provide for the elderly by supplying resources and information to homebound older people and their caregivers. Here’s how CareLink can help your senior live a happy and healthy life.
What services does CareLink offer?
Care for homebound older people
CareLink primarily helps homebound older people maintain their independence while at home. Resources for homebound care include:
- Meals on Wheels, which delivers meals to seniors who may have challenges cooking or grocery shopping
- HomeCare services, which include having a trained caregiver help with light housekeeping, planning and preparing meals, and bathing and grooming
- Paperwork assistance, which can include living wills, property deeds, finances, and Social Security. CareLink can connect you with legal assistance to help you understand related laws in order to make the best decisions.
- Ensuring the best coverage for prescription drugs
Services for active older people
Being older, you may have more time for fun activities, time to make new connections, and time to pursue fulfilling interests that you’ve always wanted to enjoy. That’s why CareLink teams with local community centers to offer active older adults fitness classes, wellness programs, and volunteer activities.
Tips for family caregivers
As a caregiver, you should talk to your older loved one about what they want out of a care experience. Most seniors prefer aging at home since it gives them more independence and can help improve mental and physical health.
It also helps to categorize your senior’s needs and outlines a strategy for meeting them. Here’s an example of how to categorize and plan.
Personal care
This includes bathing, grooming, and getting dressed. If you or another loved one are unable to provide this assistance daily, consider hiring a trained aide to help you.
Household chores
Light housekeeping, laundry, getting groceries, and yard work don’t have to become burdensome to the elderly. Explore delivery services in your area to see if groceries can be dropped off directly, and consider hiring a housekeeper or gardener to help with laundry and yard work. Some drycleaning services may offer pick-up and drop-off laundry. If you’re hiring a trained aide, you can see what household chores they’re able to help with too.
Meals
Cooking and meal prep may become more challenging for the elderly, but thankfully, there are many programs to help deliver meals. CareLink can help connect you with Meals on Wheels to deliver food when needed.
Healthcare
Remembering to take daily medications is an important task. A pill box labeled with days of the week can help. If your senior is active on their phone, you can also set up daily alarms to remind them when it’s time to take their medicine. Another duty of a trained aide could be to ensure prescriptions are up to date and taken at the right time.
If your aging loved one needs more services for healthcare, a home health aide may be needed. If this is the case, speak with a hospital discharge coordinator to find out if Medicare can help cover the cost of this.
Money management
Some support may be needed to help pay bills and complete paperwork, such as taxes and health forms. Setting up automatic payments for monthly bills, such as mortgage payments and utilities, can help ease the burden of these tasks. Simply being there to help complete forms for your senior can be a big help. If legal questions arise on the best strategy for financial tasks, CareLink can connect you with legal guidance to help.
For more information
Let CareLink pair you with resources for your senior to live a happier and healthier life. Contact us today at (501) 372-5300 to learn more about the services we offer, including a personalized support plan for caregivers.
