Caring for Loved Ones at Home

An Illustrated, Easy-to-Follow Guide to Short or Long-term Care 4th Edition.


Introduction

This book is meant to help people who need extra health care support at home. It does not matter if the person is recovering from an illness or surgery or whether they have a more chronic condition. The tips in this book will help both that person and their family members and friends who are providing support. Talk to a professional health care provider (e.g., nurse, doctor, physiotherapist or pharmacist) before trying any of these tips and techniques to make sure you are doing them correctly. You want to make sure that you do not hurt your loved one or yourself as you provide care.

The simple line drawings are meant to illustrate specific points in the instructions. Use them as guides to help you practice each of the different techniques. Remember that you are not trying to be a professional nurse. Instead you are trying to help someone you care about. These techniques will help you do exactly that. Be proud of your accomplishments. You are making a real difference in someone's life. Without you, they might not be able to stay in the comfort of their own home. When you are trying a new technique, don't be shy to ask the person you are helping to tell you what is working and what you might try to do differently. You are not doing this alone. You are working together with the person you are caring for so that both of you feel satisfied with the results.

Wherever you live, there is probably some form of Home Care Program available through your health care system. Find out at the hospital, through your family doctor, or through your telephone directory about services that are available in your area. Through such a program you will meet your home care case manager who can be an invaluable resource to get you the support you need to stay at home.

I helped both of my parents and grandfather to live at home until they died. I have also helped other loved ones who were ill, recovering from an illness or getting their strength back after giving birth. During the first few times I was reminded of how little I knew about caring for someone at home. With practice, I was learning more each time I helped someone at home or even in the hospital. I hope you find this book will spare you some of the 'trial and error' learning I went through. The information may also help you to ask the kinds of questions to get the support you and your loved ones need.

We must always remember that everyone in our lives has gifts to offer. It does not matter whether they are young or old, women or men, family members or friends, or if they are disabled in some way. They can all participate, in varying degrees, in providing home care. Do not be shy in asking for specific help with errands, cooking, cleaning or providing physical or emotional support. Encourage their efforts. Ask for help when you need it.

Note: This is a short book. Therefore, we cannot cover every kind of health care situation you, or a loved one, may experience. Adapt the information in this book to meet your needs. If you cannot find what you need in this book, ask your home care case manager, visiting home nurse, family doctor, pharmacist, social worker, librarian, or bookstore employee for more specific information.

Sincere Best Wishes
HARRY VAN BOMMEL
Scarborough, Ontario


Foreword

On behalf of the Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation, I am pleased to offer Caring for Loved Ones at Home to Canadian families free of charge. We are very proud to again be sponsoring the printing of this charitable publication, which is intended to help family members and friends more effectively manage the home care needs of their loved ones.


As a leading Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization, Saint Elizabeth Health Care has been responding to the health needs of clients and communities since 1908. To help successfully lead community health care into the 21st century, the Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation was established in 1997 to raise charitable support for the enhancement and expansion of home health care services in Canada. Inspired by the Mission of Saint Elizabeth Health Care, the Foundation is dedicated to raising funds for the advancement of knowledge and charitable initiatives in home and community care.


We continue to embrace and support this very important initiative because of an ever-present need to provide instruction and information to people who are caring for loved ones at home. The Foundation's charitable contribution to publish, print and distribute the previous edition of Caring for Loved Ones at Home, together with the charitable home care book Family Hospice Care, made the largest dissemination of palliative care information possible in the history of Ontario, for which the Foundation was named Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year by the Ontario Palliative Care Association.


Please remember that this copy of Caring for Loved Ones at Home is available to you as a result of charitable support. If you would like to help make this book available, free of charge, to more Canadian families, please consider making a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation. A suggested donation of $20, or an amount of your choosing, can be made online at http://www.saintelizabeth.com (click on the Make a Donation button on the homepage to access a secure online form), by mail at the address listed below, or by using the toll-free telephone number provided. If this book was helpful in meeting your needs, or if you have suggestions for improvements, we would like to hear from you! There is a brief evaluation form at the back of this book and your comments will help to keep the publication up-to-date.


In closing, I would like to thank Harry van Bommel for presenting the Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation with the opportunity to partner, once again, in this invaluable project, and for his time, research and expertise in developing this book.


Sister Roberta Freeman, C.S.J
Secretary
Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation
90 Allstate Parkway, Suite 300 Markham, ON L3R 6H3
1 (800) 463-1763
http://www.saintelizabeth.com



Copyright © 1996, 1999, 2002, 2006 Harry van Bommel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical copying, recording or otherwise, except with the prior written permission of the publisher, Legacies: Family and Community Resources, or under licence from the Canadian Copyright Agency.

ISBN 1-55307-016-X

library and archives canada cataloguing in publication
van Bommel, Harry
Caring for Loved Ones at Home: An Illustrated, Easy-to-Follow Guide
to Short or Long-term Care / Harry van Bommel
4th Edition.
Illustrations by Diane Huson.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-55307-016-X
1. Home nursing I. Legacies: Family and Community Resources. II. Title.
rt61.v35 2006 649.8 c2005-902690-1

Introduction & Foreword

Caring for Loved Ones at Home


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Copyright © 1996, 1999, 2002, 2006 Harry van Bommel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical copying, recording or otherwise, except with the prior written permission of the author or under licence from the Canadian Copyright Agency.