Overnight Care
Overnight care is not to be confused with what we consider to be a ‘normal’ night’s rest. During the night hours, older people can often experience difficulty in resting. Broken sleep patterns aggravate degenerative conditions such as dementia and have a detrimental impact on the general well-being of those living with them.
These overnight disruptions can undermine a loved one’s confidence and sense of independence in living at home. They can feel anxious and disoriented as a result.
Overnight care provides solid support throughout the night hours, helping your loved one to feel reassured and secure. Overnight care can also help to ensure your loved one is cared for through the night if this is when they experience difficulty – helping to ensure they’re safe and secure while encouraging healthy sleeping patterns.
Types of professional overnight care
SLEEPING NIGHT CARE
In this arrangement, a caregiver will sleep in your loved one’s home. This can be helpful for people who are anxious if they’re left alone during the night, but don’t need a great deal of physical support.
The carer will be there for at least eight hours and will sleep in their own room but will be available to help your loved one if they need assistance during the night. Normally, a carer working a “sleeping night” would not expect to have to get up any more than twice. If your loved one needs more frequent attention than this, the shift would be classed as a “waking night”.
Waking night care
In this home-care option, the carer is actually on duty in your loved one’s home for a shift of around 10 hours, although different shift lengths may be arranged. They will not need a room or a bed, as they’ll not be sleeping.
If your loved one needs help several times during the night, this could be the best option for them. For example, they may require assistance in changing their position at regular intervals to prevent the development of pressure sores, or they might need medication administered at set times.
For older people needing dementia care, waking care might be necessary to ensure that they do not come to any harm during the night. People living with dementia are sometimes unable to interpret the signs that it’s nighttime and may get up and try to leave the house. In-home night care for them would need to be from a carer who was alert to this possibility.
A sitting service
This might be needed if you or another family member provides elderly care for your loved one but need a break during the night. A carer would visit to stay with the older person for a fixed length of time, such as two or four hours, while the primary carer has a break.