The Role of Both Home Care Providers and Clients in the Success of the Service

Since the first launch of its business, DoktorCare has been keen on coordinating and facilitating access to the best integrated health care services at home, especially for our elderly and chronically ill people who are forced by advanced stages of life and physical and psychological conditions to stay at home.

DoktorCare selects registered caregivers (males/females) who are qualified, experienced, and have a personality appropriate to the nature of the service, as the applicants are screened very carefully and accuratly, which in most cases leads to acceptance of less than 10% of the applicants whom we see as competent and able to provide an appropriate level to our customers.

Despite the excellent positive response about the service by clients and their comments on the performance of the staff, including male and female caregivers, we sometimes receive some comments and complaints from the staff themselves regarding the work climate at the client’s side, which threatens their ability to continue to perform the service in an appropriate manner to achieve the desired results. This is our topic in this article.

Why are there several systems for providing home care to clients?

Due to the different cases and needs of the elderly, the elderly home care is provided in different ways and types according to the condition of the elderly, the condition of the family members who take care of him, the place of residence, and his daily needs, whether personal or health. To deal with all patients’ conditions, the service is provided in working shifts for a certain number of hours, or in a long-term residence system according to need, which means that the caregiver is present for periods that may be longer or shorter according to the service provision system, so care must be taken to provide all conditions for caregiver to ensure that his/her duties are properly performed.

The success of the home care service is the success of the “partnership” between all parties

We are partners in success, we all work to achieve one goal, which is to provide the best health support for the patient in his daily life. Therefore, we are certain that success is a quadruple partnership that includes an integrated work team consisting of DoktorCare, the caregiver, those in charge of follow-up and care from the case family, and the patient himself (according to his health condition and extent of awareness), especially in the case of the caregiver staying with the patient and the family, where focus on the patient and work on maximizing the various advantages of dealing with all parties and reaching solutions in the event of any negatives.

What is essential for home caregivers to be successful in their work?

1. Knowing and realizing that the caregiver’s role is to take care of the patient in daily life matters (eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, movement, clothing, etc.) as will be detailed at the end of the article.
2. Caregiver does not perform any medical tasks such as injections, changing wounds, and changing canola. 
3. The caregiver does not perform any household chores such as washing, cleaning, cooking, maintenance, or serving other family members, with the exception of what is done to serve the patient in person.
4. Providing a suitable place to sleep, characterized by comfort and tranquility, and the necessary furniture in case of residence.
5. Provide meals in case of presence for a period exceeding 8 hours per day.
6. In the case of residence, there must be complete clarity in coordinating working hours and rest times between the client and the caregiver. The service provider needs – other than sleeping and eating times – a special time for rest and personal hygiene in order to restore his activity and enhance his ability to work. It is advised that the average number of service provider working hours should not exceed 12 hours per day, including the hours of accompanying and monitoring the patient.
7. In cases of residence, the caregiver must have one day off per week, and leave the house every one, two, or four weeks to take the leave.
8. In the case of patients with special cases, the caregiver needs assistance from the patient’s family in providing the service, such as: cases that require moving patients with weights of more than 90 kilograms, and cases of patients with disturbed psychological conditions (depression, agitation, etc.).

What are the obstacles that facing caregivers from the client side that lead to their refusal to continue with the service?

• Unfamiliarity of the patient or his family with the concept of service and the culture of home care, and thus dealing with the male/female caregiver in a condescending manner as a house servant, in contradiction with the job description of the staff and the self-esteem that DoktorCare is keen to observe and preserve for all members of its staff.
• Expect the service provider to be available 24 hours a day and do the work while they are awake!
• Not devoting sufficient time daily for the caregiver for personal hygiene in order to restore his activity and enhance his ability to work.
• Not taking into account the granting of periodic vacations to the resident service provider, and we recommend that the period of continuous service without vacations not exceed 24 days, followed by 4 days of leave.
• Severe mood disorders of some clients and the inappropriate way of talking or dealing with the service provider.
• The family’s lack of willingness to assist the caregiver when requested, especially in cases of patients who suffer from excessive weight gain or disability problems, which may force the caregiver to carry the patient or assist him entirely.
• Not providing a suitable place for residence and comfort in terms of furniture, location, and quietness.
• Not providing basic meals or providing them inappropriately is different from the quality of food for the family itself.

What are the reasons behind the demand for home care services (Male/Female caregiver)?

 The importance and necessity of resorting to home care services for elderly parents or those with special medical needs increases for several reasons, such as working conditions, the small number of sons compared to previous generations, sons’s travel, and health conditions that may require physical effort or specialized 24-hour continuous care.

The physical and psychological effort exerted by the caretaker of a family member may exceed his capabilities and affect his health or psychological condition and his ability to bear and deal with the family as a whole and the patient in particular.

Thus, resorting to home care services for elderly parents or those with special medical needs through specialized caregivers who are able to deal with their health and psychological conditions has become an inevitable necessity and an inevitable reality.

What is the role of the home care provider’s experience and training in improving the life quality of the elderly?

Experience and training play an important role in helping the caregiver to perform his/her job duties professionally in relation to:

1. Providing and facilitating daily living aids for the elderly.
2. Commitment to the elderly taking medications at the specified times, with the exact doses, and according to the doctor’s instructions.
3. Pay attention to the patient’s personal hygiene.
4. Helping the elderly move around the house and do light exercise to maintain the flexibility of the body and prevent bedsores.
5. Accurate follow-up and immediate reporting when noticing any change in the condition of the elderly or the appearance of sudden signs of illness.
6. Providing psychological and moral support and ensuring that the elderly get out of loneliness and isolation mood that may lead the elderly to suffer from psychological depression. It also contributes significantly to his faster recovery from the physical, psychological, rehabilitative and social aspects to prevent or reduce the complications of aging.