Signs a parent needs help at home
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Signs a parent needs help at home
The signs a parent needs help at home are everyday ones: a fridge with little in it, the same clothes for days, mail piling up, a new dent in the car, a parent who has stopped going out, or a fall nobody mentioned. If you noticed one or two over the holidays, that is the point to talk with your parent and their family doctor and to ask WRHA Home Care for an assessment; a few hours a week of help is often how it starts. Here is what Winnipeg families actually see and what to do first. Call 204-798-0490, answered 24 hours a day, or contact us.
What families notice
Families often see several small changes on a visit after weeks away. None of these signs says why; that is the doctor’s question.
The house
- Mail piling up; bills unopened, or paid twice.
- A burnt pot, a stove element left on, a kitchen not as clean as it was.
- Steps not cleared after a snowfall, when your parent always did them first thing.
- Spoiled food in the fridge, or the same few items every week.
Meals and weight
- Clothes looser than in the fall; a belt on a new hole.
- Toast and tea instead of meals; a freezer full of things never cooked.
Personal care
- The same clothes for days; hair not washed, a missed shave, a smell that was never there before.
- Bruises or cuts they cannot explain.
- A blister pack with days skipped or doubled.
The car and errands
- New dents on the car, or a parent who no longer drives after dark or in snow.
- Appointments missed; prescriptions not picked up; grocery trips that stop.
Mood and isolation
- No more church, Legion, curling or coffee with friends.
- A parent who seems flat or irritable, especially in a Winnipeg winter when going out means ice and minus 30.
A fall or a close call
- A fall, even with “nothing broken,” on ice, the basement stairs or getting out of the tub.
- A near miss: a slip caught on the railing, a kettle boiled dry, a door unlocked overnight.
- An emergency visit you heard about afterwards.
One fall or close call is reason enough.
What to do first
Talk with your parent, not about them. Start with what you saw: “I noticed the steps were not cleared, and that worried me.” Some parents fear help means losing their home or their say; a few hours a week is the opposite, and easier to accept as their own decision.
Book a visit with the family doctor. Bring your list; the doctor looks for causes and can refer on. If memory is the worry, see our dementia care at home page.
Ask for a WRHA Home Care assessment. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority assesses whether your parent qualifies for its Home Care Program; the Home Care Intake Line is 204-788-8330. An assessed parent may get public hours or Self and Family Managed Care funding, which can pay a private agency. Call even if you plan to go private.
What home care can and cannot do
Our care is non-medical help in your parent’s own home, from the same caregiver each visit, three to 24 hours, seven days a week:
- Personal care: bathing, dressing, getting up and to bed, with housekeeping and meals part of the visit.
- Companionship and outings: a visit, a walk, groceries, appointments.
- Respite care: a day or a weekend off for the family member doing this now.
- Overnight care: someone in the house at night, awake or sleeping as needed.
What our caregivers do not do: we do not employ licensed nurses, so they do not administer medication, give injections, change dressings, or provide nursing or palliative care; they remind a parent about medication already set out. Nursing comes from the WRHA or a nursing provider; our visits sit alongside it. Each caregiver passes a criminal record, adult abuse registry and child abuse registry check, and we are insured. More in private home care in Winnipeg.
Stay home with help, or move?
Help at home fits when a parent wants to stay in the house, the neighbourhood and the routine they know, and the help needed can come into the home; it can grow from a few hours a week to days and nights. A move to supportive housing or a personal care home fits when a parent needs more supervision or nursing than can reasonably come into the house, when the house itself is the problem, or when they want the company of a building. In Winnipeg, personal care home placement goes through the WRHA Home Care Program, one more reason to ask early; the Home Care coordinator and the family doctor are the people to weigh it with.
Start small
A common start is a few hours a week at the hardest time: a morning routine, a lunch and a walk, an evening check. The minimum is three hours a visit; the rate depends on the hours and the care plan, so Loreta Stukaite, the owner, quotes it at the free consultation. She picks one caregiver for your family and comes to the first visit. If a few hours a week is enough, it stays there.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know it is time to get help for my parent at home?
When the everyday things have started to slip, or there has been a fall. In Winnipeg, the first calls are to the family doctor and WRHA Home Care, 204-788-8330; a few hours a week is usually enough to start.
My parent says they are fine and does not want help. What then?
Start with one thing they would accept, often housekeeping or a ride to appointments rather than “care,” and let them meet the caregiver first; with us the same one comes every visit.
Is a WRHA assessment worth asking for if we plan to pay privately?
Yes. It may offer public hours, and it is how a family qualifies for Self and Family Managed Care funding, which can pay a private agency. Many of our Winnipeg families keep WRHA hours and add private visits.
Can home care start quickly if something has already happened?
Care usually starts within days.
Talk it through with us
Call 204-798-0490 or contact us. The phone is answered 24 hours a day and the consultation is free. Comparing agencies? How to choose a home care provider in Winnipeg lists ten questions to ask any of them.