Post-Stroke Care Requires 24-Hour Attention

Post-stroke recovery is not a process that a family should rush. Your dad had a stroke that left him without the use of his left side. He’s in a wheelchair, barely speaks, and has little usage of his left hand and arm.

The one thing you cannot do is leave your dad alone. He needs around-the-clock supervision and care, which is impossible when you have a job or children that rely on you. Even if you qualify for FMLA and take it, the 12 weeks offered with FMLA may not be enough. It’s time to address 24-hour home care services.

What Is 24-Hour Home Care?

Do you know what 24-hour home care entails? It may vary from one situation to the next, but professional caregivers work in shifts to provide your parent with 24-hour care services. One caregiver might start the day at 7 a.m. and work a six- or eight-hour shift until the next caregiver arrives.

With three or four caregivers providing your dad’s care in shifts, the aide with him is awake and ready to help. While that caregiver is on-duty, the other aides are resting up and getting enough sleep until their shift.

The 24-hour home care aides working with your dad help with personal care, companion care, and transportation. If he needs his caregiver to help him get out of bed to use the toilet in the middle of the night, that’s a service you can arrange.

He’ll need aides to help him prepare meals, clean the home, do the laundry, and put things away. Your dad may require assistance with wheelchair transfers, showering, and transportation to medical appointments. No matter what time it is, he’ll have the assistance he requires.

Understand Your Dad’s Care Needs

After your dad’s stroke, he may stay in a rehabilitation center for several weeks. His doctors may feel he’s okay to go home, as long as he attends regular occupational, physical, and speech therapy sessions. You should ask if it’s possible to have those therapists come to your dad’s home.

Ask your dad’s medical team to go over his care needs. What exercises does he need to do every day? Does he have exercises to do several times a day? Are there signs you should look for to judge if he isn’t healing as quickly as he should?

If possible, see if they have a list of post-stroke care to put up in a visible area of the home. If he’s supposed to work on leg and arm exercises twice a day, his family caregivers and home care aides need to ensure he does them.

As he regains his skills over the weeks and months ahead, he may be frustrated. Emotional support is just as important as physical support. That’s where companion care services are essential. If you’re not free to take him out for a drive or a walk in his favorite park, make sure someone is.

Hire aides to provide the 24-hour home care services your dad requires. Don’t leave him alone until your dad is confident that he’s okay alone at night. Call a 24-hour home care agency to learn more.