When your elderly family member is recovering from an illness or injury that has caused her to spend time in the hospital or another type of facility, she may be excited to come home. But coming home with the right help is going to allow her to make much bigger progress than she would if she tried to go it alone. Occupational therapy can be the exact solution that she needs the most.

Assistance with ADLs

Activities of daily living are a big consideration when your elderly family member is returning home from the hospital or from some other type of medical facility. ADLs might be temporarily or permanently difficult for your senior, and occupational therapists are able to help your elderly family member to learn new techniques and skills for managing ADLs.

Help with Adaptive Devices 

Occupational therapy at home also can help your elderly family member to learn how to use adaptive devices properly. Some of these are ones that you might already be familiar with, like walkers and canes to assist with mobility. Other devices might be ones that help your elderly family member to hold silverware more easily or that allow her to get dressed on her own. These devices can take a lot of practice to learn how to use properly and easily.

Tailored Therapies for Your Senior’s Needs

There’s no one plan of action that works for every single person. Occupational therapists work with your senior to identify what she needs and to put together a plan for meeting those needs with her. Your senior’s occupational therapist is able to personalize a plan that tackles everything that is a challenge for her.

Helping Caregivers to Understand Needs

Something else that occupational therapy at home can do is to help you to better understand what your senior needs. This can be so difficult when your elderly family member is facing a situation that you’ve never encountered before and that you don’t understand. Occupational therapy allows you to get a much more complete understanding of the situation and you can ask questions about anything that is still confusing.

None of this means that it will be easy for your elderly family member to recuperate. But with the right help, she may find that recovering at home is far easier than she ever expected it could be. Occupational therapists work with your senior’s medical team to help her to heal as quickly and as safely as possible.

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring Occupational Therapy in Opelika, AL, please contact the caring staff at Prime Home Health today. Caring for Our Friends and Neighbors in Tallapoosa, Chambers, Lee, Macon, and Russell Counties! Call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! 334.745.7966