Hands-on Care Needed For My Father In Wilmington

About the job

About who needs care: My father-in-law, Pat, has been in and out of hospitals/rehabs over the past 12 months. Primarily due to UTI's and the confusion caused by them. He is a kidney transplant recipient (2005) and is diabetic due to the immunosuppressive medication. Dad also has a regurgitating tricuspid heart valve, causing poor circulation and fluid retention. He is gaining his strength back, currently using a walker, but has used a "rollator" walker in the past. Dad has a daily checklist that helps him through his day, but needs gentle reminders to accomplish them in a timely fashion. He also needs activity and encouragement to stay awake during the day so he can sleep through the night. He's working towards being more independent, but due to the lingering confusion tasks such as cooking are not realistic. Though he cooked as recently as December. Dad's confusion is more "forgetfulness in the moment" currently. Not as severe as when he has a full-on infection. Improvements can be seen weekly, and a helping hand in the morning gets his day off to a good start. Keeping Dad on a routine is the path for his recovery, he always does well when kept busy. About the care needs: Someone flexible to the situation. Who can be firm, but compasionate. Dad can be stubborn and slow to react. Other days, he's on top of his checklist and wants to do it himself. So the caregiver needs to adjust accordingly. Dad has two variables with his meds. Insulin dosing at meal time is on a sliding scale. Strength and frequency of his Lasix are determined by sudden weight gain/loss. Both scales are used by us at home and need the caregiver to be comfortable with the guidelines. We're happy to go into further detail when needed. Services needed include: transportation, meal preparation, errands / shopping, light housekeeping, companionship, feeding, and bathing / dressing.