The decision to provide in-home care for adults with developmental disabilities can be critical for any family. Such care includes assistance with personal hygiene, mobility, and basic housekeeping. As a further challenge, the caregiver will also positively affect the developmentally disabled patient’s emotional well-being by delivering companionship, playing games, and improving said patient’s quality of life daily by allowing him or her to remain in familiar surroundings while dealing with his or her disabilities.

Caretakers and families need to be aware of the daily challenges faced by adults with developmental disabilities. Awareness allows the family and caretaker to provide the ultimate in-home health care for their loved one. To list just a few challenges:

1. Difficulty in communication
2. People’s attitudes toward those with developmental challenges
3. Daily anxiety felt by the patient

What’s Different about In-Home Care for Adults with Developmental Disabilities?

An in-home caregiver for adults with developmental disabilities has a wide range of responsibilities that are more specialized than those of a general caregiver. Such a caregiver creates a nurturing environment for emotional and physical support and aids in skill development. Adults with developmental disabilities have specific needs, and in-home care requires attention to signs of autism, multiple sclerosis, Downs syndrome, and more. Providing the needed care presents a special challenge to the in-home caretaker.

Related: In-Home Care for Adults with Cognitive Disabilities

Within such a caring environment, the patient enjoys enhanced self-confidence and self-esteem as he or she maintains a higher level of independence and freedom, which is the main goal of in-home care for adults, and why hiring the best caretaker is so critical. Specialized health care experience such as in-home care for adults with autism can make a tremendous difference to the patient’s development. Education for in-home care for adults with Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other disabilities will tremendously help both the patient, the family, and the caregiver.

What Types of Services are Included in In-Home Care?

There is a wide range of in-home developmental care services that can be and should be personalized to each unique situation. A registered nurse will often lead the developmental disabilities home care services team in conjunction with a physician. The nurse will monitor the patient’s general health and medication, pain, and therapy with the regular oversight of a doctor, who may visit the home.

Developmental disabilities take many forms, such Downs syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, cognitive deterioration, and others that are a concern for the family. That is why the medical team of nurse and doctor, with the support of the family, should work together to arrange in-home care for Downs syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy. This is in-home care at a high level; fortunately, such therapeutic care can help the patient deal with his or her specific developmental disabilities. A physical therapist can help the patient relearn tasks that have become difficult to perform.

When the specialized duties of a registered nurse are not needed, the family can rely on the assistance of an aide to help the patient with daily grooming and other personal needs. However, at all times, the special needs of the developmentally disabled adult have to be kept in mind. When the family and the in-home health providers work as a team, the patient with developmental disability thrives.

What are the benefits of in-home care for both individuals and their families?

The National Council on Aging has determined that both the patient and his and her family benefit from in-home care. The one-on-one focus allows for individualized care that will help optimize the patient’s health and lifestyle. The proper care from family and caregivers will invariably have a beneficial effect that includes greater independence, fewer visits to the hospital, and increased emotional well-being. It is far less isolating for the developmentally disabled patient when the caregiver arranges social activities such as a movie or picnic with friends. For an isolated senior, these can be lifelines. For a developmentally disabled senior, it can make the difference between despair and joy.

How can in-home care support independence and quality of life?

The quality of life for ailing seniors can be immensely improved with in-home care for adults with developmental disabilities. The major benefit of in-home care is that said care and caregiver can be customized to the wishes of the patient and the family. In an elder facility, most of the daily activities, regardless of how supportive, are beyond the control of the interested parties. There is little personal attention.

In-home care can be tailored to meet individual needs, which can best be summed up in three words. It’s more personal.

1. A new environment such as a nursing home requires adjustment. From diet to medication to daily living, seniors who remain in their familiar personal home environment will experience an advanced level of well-being and more rapid healing.
2. Enjoying at-home healthcare personalizes a daily routine to suit the patient, the caretaker, and the family as the day is adjusted to maximize the patient’s comfort. In a nursing facility, no such personal treatment is possible. The patient adjusts to the facility’s routine instead of vice versa.
3. In a facility, family involvement is limited to occasional visits. With at-home health care and a proper plan, the family and the patient can enjoy a meal together at any time, can get together to watch a favorite movie, or visit friends. Life is more personal and far less limited, with the developmentally disabled patient’s welfare as the prime focus.
4. Most facilities will plan activities throughout the day, but the facility determines the activity without considering the individual needs of the disability disabled.

Specialized home care allows seniors and their caregivers to create their own day, from a shopping excursion to watching a beloved granddaughter play hockey after school. Memories are made when the developmentally disabled patient is allowed such freedom.

What resources are available for families and caregivers seeking support?

The great news is our seniors are living longer. The challenging news is that more in-home health care is needed to take care of our beloved seniors with developmental disabilities. This means more family members are being called upon to focus more of their own lives on a loved one in need.

Families with a developmentally disabled loved can contact NAMI, an organization that provides community-based programs throughout the country on dealing with the stresses of caregiving for a disabled loved one.

It is normal to feel overwhelmed at times—even angry. Family caregivers need to accept those feelings without guilt or judgment. Do not hesitate to ask for support when necessary. Families may have issues, but when it comes to providing in-home health care support, they become a cohesive unit.

Caretakers need to be able to call a respite caregiver for short-term relief that allows some “me time” for errands, taking a vacation, or hanging out with friends. Taking a self-care break is affirming your own feelings and needs, which is critically important.

Join a support group that focuses on the specific disability suffered by your loved one. This will provide greater understanding and allow you to lean on supportive friends. Your patient is not alone, and neither are you.