What is the person insecure about? Living alone? Health issues? Dementia?
Being trustworthy can help with some insecurities. Encouragement may help but make sure it's genuine, not just a pat on the head along with praise. Which leads to the next thing that can enhance someone's sense of security: genuineness on the part of the caregiver.
Treating someone with respect can enhance a sense of security. As can treating them like a human as opposed to a sick patient.
Try to be mindful of their privacy. By the time someone needs a caregiver they have probably been in the hospital at least once and hospitals aren't known for respecting a person's sense of modesty and privacy and dignity. A talented and empathetic caregiver can give these things back to their client. Sure, the client is used to being unclothed in front of staff, they've grown accustomed to it. But if you take the time to keep the client covered while you work with him/her they'll regain that sense of modesty and privacy they've lost from being a patient in a hospital. Even if they say it doesn't matter. Most home-health patients have concerns about their caregiver going above and beyond the call of duty. The client doesn't want to be any trouble. But throwing a towel over someone's lap while they're unclothed so you can apply medication or lotion is a sensitive and thoughtful gesture.
I once had a hospice patient who had been discharged from the hospital to rehab and finally home to hospice. My first day with him I wanted to give him a shower so I gathered up everything I'd need but I needed an extra towel to keep him covered while I used his bath towel to dry him off. I asked his wife where I could find an extra towel. She asked what it was for and I told her and she said something like, "Oh, you don't need to do that. He's used to it." Meaning that her husband was used to being naked with staff. And maybe he was used to it but I respected privacy and modesty in my work so I used the bath towel to keep him covered and used the hand towel to dry him off. It wasn't ideal but he got dry and he was covered which helped to keep him warm. I understood the wife's motivation--she didn't want to have any more laundry than she already had. But once she discovered what I was doing she provided an extra towel and the client began to talk more to me during his shower. Chit-chat, you know. But I think he felt more comfortable with my preserving his modesty and this opened him up which helped build trust and preserve dignity. And while I've never had a client who insisted on being naked during ADL's, I've had clients and families who have been grateful that I respected someone's privacy. It doesn't matter to me one way or another. I've seen so many naked people while working in hospice that it has no effect on me which is why I was very mindful of their feelings.
Nursing students are taught that the proper way to give a bed bath is keeping the body covered except for the part that is being washed but somewhere between that lesson and an elderly person laying naked on their bed while the nurse or caregiver is rummaging around for supplies that lesson gets lost.
There are many ways to contribute to someone's sense of security. Just look for them and you'll find ways.
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Being trustworthy can help with some insecurities. Encouragement may help but make sure it's genuine, not just a pat on the head along with praise. Which leads to the next thing that can enhance someone's sense of security: genuineness on the part of the caregiver.
Treating someone with respect can enhance a sense of security. As can treating them like a human as opposed to a sick patient.
Try to be mindful of their privacy. By the time someone needs a caregiver they have probably been in the hospital at least once and hospitals aren't known for respecting a person's sense of modesty and privacy and dignity. A talented and empathetic caregiver can give these things back to their client. Sure, the client is used to being unclothed in front of staff, they've grown accustomed to it. But if you take the time to keep the client covered while you work with him/her they'll regain that sense of modesty and privacy they've lost from being a patient in a hospital. Even if they say it doesn't matter. Most home-health patients have concerns about their caregiver going above and beyond the call of duty. The client doesn't want to be any trouble. But throwing a towel over someone's lap while they're unclothed so you can apply medication or lotion is a sensitive and thoughtful gesture.
I once had a hospice patient who had been discharged from the hospital to rehab and finally home to hospice. My first day with him I wanted to give him a shower so I gathered up everything I'd need but I needed an extra towel to keep him covered while I used his bath towel to dry him off. I asked his wife where I could find an extra towel. She asked what it was for and I told her and she said something like, "Oh, you don't need to do that. He's used to it." Meaning that her husband was used to being naked with staff. And maybe he was used to it but I respected privacy and modesty in my work so I used the bath towel to keep him covered and used the hand towel to dry him off. It wasn't ideal but he got dry and he was covered which helped to keep him warm. I understood the wife's motivation--she didn't want to have any more laundry than she already had. But once she discovered what I was doing she provided an extra towel and the client began to talk more to me during his shower. Chit-chat, you know. But I think he felt more comfortable with my preserving his modesty and this opened him up which helped build trust and preserve dignity. And while I've never had a client who insisted on being naked during ADL's, I've had clients and families who have been grateful that I respected someone's privacy. It doesn't matter to me one way or another. I've seen so many naked people while working in hospice that it has no effect on me which is why I was very mindful of their feelings.
Nursing students are taught that the proper way to give a bed bath is keeping the body covered except for the part that is being washed but somewhere between that lesson and an elderly person laying naked on their bed while the nurse or caregiver is rummaging around for supplies that lesson gets lost.
There are many ways to contribute to someone's sense of security. Just look for them and you'll find ways.
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