Caregiver Training To Help With Bathing

Assisting a care recipient with bathing and hygiene can be a sensitive task that requires skill, patience, and tact. In this article, we’ll explore the essential caregiver training needed to assist with bathing, helping you promote safety, maintain dignity, and enhance communication during this intimate task. We’ll also cover the different types of training available to caregivers to help build these personal care skills.

Promoting Safety

One of the most important goals of caregiver training to help with bathing is to keep both the caregiver and care recipient safe throughout the process. Training programs can provide basic training on bathing and provide important safety education, including: 

• Where to put your hands when assisting with transfers in and out of the bathtub.
• Education on equipment that can prevent falls, like grab bars and shower chairs.
• Tips on sequencing the bathing task that can optimize safety and present falls. For example, having the care recipient dry off while still sitting on the shower chair.

Effective Communication 

Helping someone with an intimate task like bathing requires strong communication skills to keep the care recipient calm and comfortable. Caregiver training can offer communication strategies like:

• Providing choices to allow the care recipient to take charge of their bathing experience
• Obtaining consent prior to helping them with the personal care task 
• Telling them what you’re going to do before you take action 

Maintaining Dignity & Comfort

It’s likely that bathing used to be a private task that the older adult did in the comfort of their own space. Now that an additional person is involved to help, maintaining respect, dignity, and comfort is essential. Caregiver training can help teach you tips and tricks to provide compassionate care, like placing towels strategically to ensure the care recipient feels respected and comfortable throughout. 

Promoting Health & Wellness

Bathing is a fundamental hygiene task that keeps the care recipient clean and healthy. By taking additional training, you can gain knowledge on training topics that can help maintain their current health and prevent future problems from occurring. Examples include: 

• Skin. When assisting with bathing, you can examine the skin of the care recipient. This helps identify concerning areas of skin breakdown or pressure areas before they become wounds.
• Stability. Observing the care recipient’s sitting balance if they’re sitting on a shower chair can be a helpful assessment of their balance and stability. If you notice this is becoming harder for them to do, it may raise a red flag that they could be at an increased fall risk. 
• Breathing. Taking a bath takes a lot of energy. Paying attention to the care recipient’s fatigue and work of breathing when they’re bathing can be a helpful observation.

Types Of Caregiver Training To Help With Bathing

There are different types of caregiver training that can teach new skills, tips, and tricks for bathing. Whether it be hands-on training or virtual webinars, each mode of education has its own benefits and can help you further your skills to become a savvy caregiver.

Hands-On-Training 

Non-profit organizations, colleges, and hospitals often offer in-person training for caregivers. This can be helpful to learn safe handling techniques or to learn proper set-up of different pieces of equipment (like shower chairs and grab bars). This type of caregiver training program is beneficial because it allows you to:

• Practice skills like transferring a recipient to a tub bench or using a handheld shower head.
• Problem-solve through mock situations to address problems before they arise with the care recipient.
• Be more focused because you are away from the distractions of everyday life.
• Meet and connect with other caregivers in your area. 

Online Training & Certifications

Choosing a virtual caregiver training session can be beneficial because it’s flexible and can be accomplished in the comfort of your own home. There are many types of caregiver training offerings online. Some online caregiving training options are in-depth, cost money, and can last days or weeks. Other caregiver trainings are more general, quick, and may be free of charge. Types of virtual trainings to further your professional development may include: 

• Online caregiver certification. Some organizations, like The American Caregiver Association, offer a national caregiver certification course that licenses you as a certified caregiver and adds you to the national registry of caregivers once you complete the course. Certification courses offer more in-depth and formal training and may cost more to complete. 

• Continuing education webinars. Online webinars are often offered by local universities or non-profit organizations like the Family Caregiver Alliance and can provide valuable modules and webinars on caregiver training. These courses may be easier to digest and require less time commitment. 

• Videos. Videos can be found online at all hours of the day at places like YouTube or other university or organizational websites like the Alzheimer’s Association for those providing care for people with dementia. This is an easy, cost-effective way to further your caregiving skills. 

Interested in online caregiver training? Check if you have free access to Trualta. 

Articles & Journals

Reading journals and articles can offer an easy way to learn new suggestions and advice when helping a care recipient with their daily bathing task. Organizations may also offer digital handbooks or checklists with tips and tricks to make these daily tasks quicker, more effective, and more comfortable for the care recipient.

Taking The Next Step

It’s a noble role to be a professional caregiver for someone else. Choosing to get additional caregiver training can teach you the essential skills to keep both yourself and the care recipient safe and provide high-quality care during your caregiving journey. 

Explore the training options outlined in this article and be sure to check if you have free access to Trualta. 

References

1. Alzheimer’s Association. (n.d.). Caregiving. https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving
2. American Caregiver Association. (n.d.). Caregiver certification. https://americancaregiverassociation.org/caregiver-certification/
3. Caregiver Action Network. (n.d.). Bathing tips for older adults. https://www.caregiveraction.org/bathing-tips-older-adults/
4. Caregiver.org. (n.d.). Bathing and dementia. https://www.caregiver.org/resource/bathing-dementia/
5. CareTap. (n.d.). The importance of caregiver training in enhancing quality care. https://caretap.net/blog/importance-caregiver-training-enhancing-quality-care/
6. NIA. (n.d.). Alzheimer’s caregiving: Bathing, dressing, and grooming. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-caregiving/alzheimers-caregiving-bathing-dressing-and-grooming
7. PeaceHealth. (n.d.). Bathing an older adult. https://www.peacehealth.org/medical-topics/id/abp9705
8. UCLA Health. (n.d.). Caregiver training videos. https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/geriatrics/dementia/caregiver-education/caregiver-training-videos