Being a caretaker, irrespective of whether you are the care assistant visiting an apartment or being a caretaker of your parent at home, is no simple job.
It might be difficult to know where to start and what to do.
Caretaking is definitely a demanding job with daunting tasks ahead of you all the time.
You will have to know the basics just like when you attempt to ride a bicycle.
There is no course or guide to tell you what to do or how to react in different situations.
Each caregiver can be unique and can have his own technique when it comes to the trade.
But however, there exists a golden rule for all the caregivers.
It says - always have a routine and never ever underestimate its power! Routines find it very important when a caretaker is trying to have good vibes with the elderly person he is working with.
With routines, he can make the elder feel extremely happy and give them an air of support and comfort.
Enquiring about the senior is the first and most significant step before framing the routine.
If the elder taken care of is your parent, this shouldn't really be a problem for you.
But routines are a must even if it is any stranger to you.
It is almost impossible to start a routine without knowing anything about the person under your assistance.
A good routine can be developed for the elderly person if there is a good rapport and compromise between the caretaker and the elder.
Always it is better to build and cement your place in the heart of the elder.
Compromising and respecting each other can help you to know the person a lot better.
Preparing a routine before this can cause problems.
However logical and effective the routine may be, unless you the person head to toe, you might end up in a predicament.
Build the trust and respect with your elder before he sabotages or mucks up your routine badly.
A proper and well prepared routine can have long term benefits to the elderly person.
It can make his life very happy and peaceful if the routine you prepare is worthy.
The routine acts as an alarm to let you know what to do at different times and thereby helping the senior citizen to have less stressful time.
What a routine can do is make the elder feel very comfortable as nothing is going to be unexpectedly thrown at him.
A routine can help you to keep track of what you doing and how the medications are going.
Unnecessary frustration and annoyance can be avoided if you have a well prepared routine.
It can give the elders some kind of control over their lives.
It might take a long time to prepare the routine for an elder, but once it is done you will hardly want to deviate from that.
Routines can guide you properly and the chances of going wrong at any point are very less.
You will realize how effective this tool called as routine can be.
It gives you a control of what is happening and prevent any sort of confusion.
It cuts down unwanted stress.
Though it is not easy doing a routine, it has immense rewards when use to its maximum.
Routines help to stay cool and comfortable throughout the process.
It will be worth all the efforts put in by you and the elder will appreciate your effort.
Don't make it too late as these routines, as we saw, have massive advantages.
You will never know until you complete the whole routine how useful it can be.
It can either be used as an introductory step or the last resort in the caretaking process.