As we age, many activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, and grooming can become challenging. Families often look for assistance providing personal care that maintains their senior loved ones’ comfort, dignity and independence. Home Matters offers professional personal caregiving for seniors in Houston Metro tailored to each person’s needs and abilities.

Our experienced certified caregivers provide hands-on care while respecting seniors’ preferences. We partner with families to ensure your loved one receives compassionate support with intimate, personal tasks in the comfort of home.

What does Personal Care Involve?

Personal care involves providing hands-on assistance with daily activities that have become difficult for seniors due to limited mobility, arthritis, reduced vision or other age-related issues. These activities include:

• Bathing and grooming
• Oral care
• Dressing and undressing
• Toileting
• Mobility assistance
• Medication reminders
• Eating assistance
• Transfers and positioning
• Incontinence care
• Feeding tube care
• Ostomy care
• Applying lotions/creams

Proper assistance with personal care promotes comfort and prevents dangerous falls or injuries. Our caregivers tend to each task gently and respectfully based on specific needs and abilities. We aim to make receiving personal care worry-free for seniors and families.

Benefits of In-Home Personal Care

Receiving personal care at home through Home Matters offers many benefits for Houston Metro seniors compared to options like nursing homes:

• Remain in familiar, comfortable home surroundings
• Preserve dignity and independence
• Caregivers adapt to senior’s preferences
• Family oversees care and advocates needs
• Caregivers get to know senior’s history and personality
• Promotes mobility and active lifestyles
• Reduce risk of infections or falls
• Provides social stimulation and companionship
• Enable seniors to remain near loved ones
• No need for stressful transition to facilities
• Care plan can be easily adjusted over time
• More affordable care option for many families

With in-home care, seniors can age gracefully and comfortably while staying involved in family life. Our experienced Home Matters team supports safe, dignified living at home.

Our Personalized Approach to Senior Care

Home Matters takes a customized approach to personal care for each Houston Metro senior we serve. It starts with getting to know their unique preferences and abilities both physically and cognitively through consulting the family and assessing the senior.

We train caregivers to look for verbal and non-verbal cues when providing assistance to make the senior feel relaxed. Caregivers learn each senior’s comfort levels and adjust support while maintaining dignity.

Some examples of our personalized care include:

• Using familiar personal care products the senior is accustomed to
• Maintaining bathing routines that give confidence
• Letting them set their own pace for mobility
• Encouraging independence while ensuring safety
• Adapting communication styles to cognitive needs
• Playing favorite music to create a calming environment
• Respecting cultural/religious aspects around care
• Accommodating diet preferences and restrictions
• Adjusting clothing for seasonal comfort
• Using humor and jokes understood by the senior

This individualized approach helps seniors feel at ease while making personal care a reassuring routine. Our team partners with families to provide both physical and emotional support.

Types of Personal Care Assistance

Home Matters caregivers are trained to assist with all aspects of personal care, including:

Bathing, Grooming & Hygiene

Proper hygiene is vital for health and dignity. We gently help with:

• Sponge baths
• Showers or tub bathing
• Hair washing/drying
• Nail care
• Oral hygiene and denture care
• Shaving and beard trimming
• Applying lotion, powders, makeup
• Gentle massages for comfort

Caregivers use techniques to prevent infections while making bathing safe and comfortable.

Dressing & Undressing

Choosing clothing and getting dressed maintains independence. We assist with:

• Selecting outfits based on weather, activities
• Retrieving items from closets and drawers
• Buttoning shirts, sweaters, jackets
• Zipping and buckling pants, skirts, shoes
• Putting on compression stockings
• Changing soiled clothing with fresh outfits

We give verbal cues or physical assistance based on abilities to allow seniors to actively participate.

Toileting, Incontinence & Hygiene

Maintaining continence and using the restroom independently is important for health and dignity. We provide:

• Escorting to restroom and providing standby assistance
• Changing adult briefs and incontinence pads
• Emptying bedside commodes and urinals
• Providing gentle perineal care after episodes
• Offering a steady arm for sitting down or standing
• Ensuring skin integrity to prevent rashes
• Maintaining a continence record and routine

We aim to keep seniors comfortable and confident with using the facilities.

Mobility Assistance & Transfers

Safe mobility preserves independence and reduces fall risks. We support seniors with:

• Walking alongside with a gait belt for stability
• Safely transitioning from bed to chair and back
• Proper wheelchair use, providing arm support entering/exiting
• Helping enter and exit vehicles for appointments
• Carrying oxygen tanks and positioning nearby
• Using devices like canes, walkers, grab bars properly
• Light range-of-motion exercises and stretches
• Helping navigate home obstacles like stairs, rugs

We provide supervision for seniors at risk of falling while encouraging activity.

Medication Reminders

Adhering to medication regimens is vital for health management. We assist by:

• Verbally reminding to take medications on time
• Preparing pills in daily organizers for self-administration
• Coordinating refills and new prescriptions as needed
• Safely storing medications away from confusion
• Monitoring medication effects and side-effects
• Discussing concerns with family and doctor
• Maintaining updated medication lists

Our caregivers oversee the medication process for safety and compliance.

Nutrition & Feeding Assistance

Proper nutrition is important for health. We help with:

• Planning healthy, appealing meals and snacks
• Preparing food respecting diet restrictions
• Assisting with adaptive eating utensils
• Cutting up food items into bite-sized pieces
• Monitoring intake and encouraging hydration
• Providing physical assistance guiding hand to mouth
• Maintaining proper feeding tube care
• Communicating with speech therapists on needs

We make mealtimes comfortable while preventing choking risks.

The personal care services provided by Home Matters aim to make daily living worry-free and dignified for Houston Metro seniors and their families. Contact us to learn more.

FAQs about Personal Care Services in Houston Metro

We understand you likely have many questions about personal care for your loved one. Here are answers to some common inquiries:

How often will caregivers come to provide personal care?

Frequency depends on need, but typical range is 2-6 visits per day spanning 30 min to 2 hours each.

What training and certification do personal caregivers have?

Our caregivers complete certified training on proper techniques, safety, infection control, communication, and confidentiality.

How do you accommodate different cultural preferences around personal care?

We train all staff on providing culturally competent care tailored to seniors’ customs around bathing, dressing, diet and needs.

Can one caregiver provide all our personal care needs or multiple?

For consistency, we assign 1-2 main caregivers though others fill in. This ensures familiarity and comfort.

Do caregivers help with continence, toileting, and incontinence?

Absolutely – assisting with toileting/incontinence is part of daily care. We tend sensitively based on abilities.

How are caregivers matched with specific seniors?

We match by gender, personality, language, and shared interests/backgrounds. Families may meet potential caregivers first.

Can family members oversee or participate in personal care tasks?

Yes, family involvement is welcome if desired by the senior to ease transition to receiving caregiver support.

What communication do you provide families about personal care needs?

Ongoing communication about changes in status, abilities, concerns. We partner closely with families.

How is safety ensured when providing personal care?

Our staff is trained extensively in proper techniques for mobility, transfers and bathing. We focus intently on preventing injuries.

We hope these responses help explain our personal care services. Please contact Home Matters to learn more about how we can support you and your loved one.

Contact us at 832-371-6600 to find out more about how we can help someone you love with our customized in-home care services.

Home Matters Caregiving proudly serves the Houston Metro area providing care for seniors wherever they call home.