What Role Does Family Involvement In Neurological Care Play?
No matter what care your loved one is receiving, family involvement is vital. This is never more so the case than with neurological care, such as dementia care, as you provide emotional support, advocacy and often daily assistance. So why is family involvement in neurological care so important?
Care is more than providing medication at the right time, it encompasses emotional well-being, physical rehabilitation and ensuring your loved one lives the best life possible. This is only accomplished with the help of a supportive family, as the collaboration between families and care staff means the right level of care is given in a way that your loved one prefers.
At LuxuryCare’s neurological centre, Branksome Park, we encourage families to get involved with our care right from the start. Why? Because we know how much of an impact it can have on your loved one’s transition into care and quality of life when living with us.
In this blog, we discuss the role family plays in neurological care and why it is important.
Emotional Support
One of the biggest roles that family involvement in neurological care plays is providing emotional support.
Regular visits ensure that your loved one doesn’t feel abandoned or forgotten about. This reduces feelings of loneliness and depression, boosting their emotional well-being.
But regular visits are more than just making sure your loved one doesn’t feel lonely. They also provide your loved one with time and an ear to listen to any thoughts and feelings they might be having, both positive and negative.
We have all experienced a time when we want to talk through a negative feeling we have without judgement, but on the flip side, we all have moments of delight that we want to share too. Visiting your loved one allows them to share these with you, creating emotional stability.
As an outsider to the staff, you will be able to offer emotional validation and reassurances that help settle your loved one, improving their morale and well-being.
Daily Assistance
Neurological conditions are known to impact physical movement, making daily activities, such as getting dressed, bathing or eating, difficult.
Even if your loved one is living in a specialist neurological care home, family involvement in neurological care can often provide moments of connection through assistance with daily tasks.
Examples might include:
- Getting dressed
- Shaving, brushing hair and cleaning teeth
- Eating and drinking
- Moving around the home
But this goes beyond the physical assistance you can provide. Being involved in your loved ones’ care also helps to create familiarity and routine. For example, visiting at the same time with some of their favourite snacks, books or scented items can provide comfort. Plus, you can also use the opportunity to help them personalise and maintain their own room so they have a space that feels like home.
On top of these, you can also encourage them to participate in group activities. They will likely find your presence reassuring when socialising and gain additional enjoyment from having you join in.
Medication, Therapy Support, and Advocacy
While the care staff will predominantly deal with medication management, family involvement in neurological care is crucial when it comes to care plans and how our care is delivered.
Through the admission process, we will complete a care needs assessment, which gives us an idea of the level of care your loved one needs for us to create a tailored care plan that encompasses all this.
You, as the family, play a vital role in this by giving us their life story, sharing current preferences and the little things about your loved one that will make a big difference to how we care for your loved one.
Our care plans are flexible and constantly reviewed, and we value your part in these reviews because we believe you bring valuable insight to your loved one.
Through regular visits, you are also likely to spot changes in behaviour or symptoms. This is another way in which family involvement is important to neurological care. You know your loved one, so you know when something is different. By flagging these changes with us, we can amend our care to treat the issue or adjust care to assist the limitations caused by the new symptom.
Families can act as advocates for their loved ones, and we encourage you to do the same for your loved one. While you might not have in-depth medical knowledge of your loved ones’ neurological condition, you do have experience and knowledge of who they are as a person. This is invaluable in care because it allows us to personalise the care so your loved one can live as independently and happily as possible.
A final point we want to make is the gentle reassurance and encouragement you can provide your loved one to stick with their care plans.
Just like you can encourage them to participate in social activities, you can also motivate and encourage them to attend therapy sessions, even when they are feeling frustrated with it. And attending these sessions on occasion can provide comfort and familiarity.
Of course, your involvement can also help us to reinforce their therapy sessions as you can help encourage them to practice small movement exercises or play a memory game with them without them even realising they might be therapy activities.
Family Involvement at LuxuryCare
Across all of our care homes in Bournemouth and Poole, we love families to get involved. Branksome Park is no exception, as we encourage family involvement in neurological care.
As we mentioned above, we value your part in creating and maintaining bespoke care plans so that everyone involved can be confident the care provided is right for your loved one.
On top of this, we want our care to extend beyond physical and medical care, and you can help us with this approach.
Our doors are always open, so you can visit as often as you can at a time that suits you. We love inviting you to join our daily activities, day trips out and meal times. Plus, we always put on family events throughout the year.
To our staff, building a relationship with you is just as important as building one with your loved one, so you should never hesitate to reach out to us and our staff.
We believe that the best way to explain the role of family involvement in neurological care is for you to visit us and see for yourself. Book a visit to Branksome Park or any of our other care homes today by calling us on 01202 037373 or completing our online contact form.
