Whether you are new to senior caregiving, looking for enhanced elder care training, or are looking for ways to support another caregiver, online education offers a world of opportunities.
Whether you are new to senior caregiving, looking for enhanced elder care training, or are looking for ways to support another caregiver, online education offers a world of opportunities.
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Online video education can help caregivers supporting a parent who wants to remain in their own home. At times when it may be difficult to contact a healthcare provider, YouTube provides an easy way to acquire essential caregiving skills.
In fact, visual learning is an extremely effective and efficient way of absorbing new information quickly. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, about 65% of the population are visual learners. For caregivers who are short on time and resources, online videos help visually illustrate essential techniques and strategies for high-quality caregiving. And what’s better, these videos are completely free!
Given the diverse challenges senior caregiving offers, the internet offers a forum for acquiring a wide variety of skills to help you navigate the challenges of having an aging parent at home, who may be battling various illnesses and age-related diseases.
We compiled a list of the most useful YouTube videos that every caregiver should watch. These videos provide expert tips, meaningful material, and demonstrations for the caregivers supporting an aging parent at home. But remember, these clips are no replacement for expert medical advice from your doctor or physician.
- How to give an insulin shot – If you care for someone with diabetes, you’re probably wondering how to properly inject insulin. This video for CVS Pharmacy guides you through important steps for preparing and storing insulin and the steps to administering a shot.
- How to test your blood sugar – Testing blood sugar levels helps you and your loved one make informed decisions about diet, activity and even insulin dosing to most effectively manage diabetes. This video guide from Diabetes.co.uk shows you everything you’ll need to get starting and how to test blood glucose (sugar) levels.
- How to successfully manage medications – This video from the Alzheimer’s Foundation Education Series provides an emotional, real-life look at the importance of medication management. Caregivers play an invaluable role in assisting their loved ones in establishing daily routines for taking medication and communicating with healthcare providers about concerns and side effects. These lessons span beyond dementia caregiving and are useful to any caregiver with an elderly loved one living at home.
- How to protect your elderly loved one from fires – Does Mom or Dad forget to shut off the stovetop? For many reasons, older adults are at a higher risk of dying in a home fire. Find out how to protect your loved one with these safety tips.
- How to maintain balance & stay active at home – Exercise can improve a senior’s flexibility and strength, reducing risk of injury and guarding against the deleterious affects of illness or chronic disease. Kathy Shillue of Rehabilitation Services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston shows a series of exercises seniors can perform safely from the comfort of their own home.
- How to measure blood pressure – If you or your loved one suffers from high blood pressure, knowing how to achieve an BP accurate reading from home is essential to staying healthy and preventing problems before they start. Here physician and ConsumerReports medical expert, Marvin Lipman shows you how.
- How to help prevent trips and falls in home – For the elderly, trips and falls are the most common type of accident that occurs in the home. In this video, The Visiting Nurse Service of NY shows simple modifications you can make today to prevent falls and keep your loved one’s home environment a safe place.
- How to prevent bedsores – Bedsores, or pressure ulcers are a serious problem for many home-bound elders and are actually lesions caused by prolonged pressure to a part or side of the body. This video from LiveStrong will help you learn about treatments and symptoms.
- How to measure vital signs – During this video Sandi Flores, RN of Care and Compliance Group reviews step-by-step procedures for taking blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respirations, and weight. Documenting and reporting vitals signs are also addressed.
- How to live to 100 – To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. In this absolutely fascinating TED talk, he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep aging people around the world spry past age 100.
Being a caregiver is a long-term learning process — online videos are just one place to start. What eldercare learning resources have you turned to or found useful?
Dr. Barbara Paris, Director and physician in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Services, at Maimonides Medical Center discusses the future of healthcare
While on your quest of visual learning, be sure to check out eCaring’s YouTube Channel. We’re discussing important challenges facing healthcare today with leading doctors and medical professionals. Also find instructional videos on how home health tracking can improve your loved one’s care as well as links to caregiving experts and organizations we recommend.
