Home Care: How to Find the Right Doctor For Your Senior

 November 4, 2021

Home Care: As a caregiver, there is only so much that you can do for your senior.

You can cook, you can clean, however you aren’t often at the liberty to actually give medical care to your senior. With this comes the question, “How do I find the right doctor for my senior.” To begin, we have to look into what specifications make a doctor more able to treat and understand problems that occur in seniors. These doctors are often called geriatricians and can keep your senior comfortable and happy. Home care service providers can also help take a burden off you and your family by providing help with everyday tasks.

What is a Geriatrician?

A geriatrician is a health care professional who is trained in treating older individuals. Usually, this means that they specialize in treating individuals who are 65 or older (however some can even specialize in smaller age groups or specific problems such as arthritis).

There are multiple things/issues that geriatricians can specialize in. Some of these include:

• -Arthritis
• -Memory issues
• -Alzheimer’s
• -Balance issues
• -Coordination issues
• -Diabetes
• -Dementia
• -Osteoporosis
• -Cancer
• -Diabetes

Home Care: 5 Areas of Geriatric Care

To begin, you may want to pick your senior healthcare provider based on the specific type of personal care at home you are looking for. This can mean finding a geriatrician that specializes in a specific illness or finding one that is simply close due to mobility/transportation limitations.

• The first area of the specification is mobility. Some geriatricians specialize in this, aiming to help patients to identify and solve issues of mobility. This can be a great specialization to look for if your senior has issues moving or falling.

• Another area in which geriatricians can specialize is medication. You may want to look for a geriatrician who specializes in medication if you are just starting the process of senior care (for example for seniors who have just started to need assistance.

• The third area of specificity in the mind, making sure that seniors are mentally happy, and cognitive as a whole.

• The next specialization geriatricians can have is in “multi complexity.” This means that they can specialize in multiple illnesses, complex illnesses, or chronic illnesses. These geriatricians can be a great choice if you are simply not sure what care your senior needs.

• The last area of the specification is “matters most” care. This care is in palliative and end-of-life care, sorting out what needs to be done/delegated when your senior is ready.

Home Care: Conclusion

As mentioned, there are multiple things that you should take into consideration when finding the right doctor for your senior.

Some of the most important things to look at are the location of your geriatrician, specifications of your geriatrician, transportation options, and more. These should all be taken into account, however, the final choice should really be up to your senior.

If your senior is aging and having trouble doing many of the things they used to, consider personal care at home. Personal care at home is a service that will aid your seniors in everyday tasks such as cooking, cleaning, bathing themselves, meal preparation, and more. Call us today and see if home care is the right option for you and your family!

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Squirrel Hill, PA, please contact the caring staff at In-Home Quality Care today. Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area since 1990! Call412-421-5202

Sources:

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-geriatrician

https://www.arborcompany.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-senior-doctor-geriatrician