Personal care

[TheOrigRights]

Can someone point me to some resources where I could learn how to
help with the personal care of a wheelchair user?

It's for a family member who has Parkinson's and dementia.

He uses incontinence underwear - the ones which tear down the side.

He is in a nursing home, and so obviously it's only recently I've been able to take him out. To date, it's been two trips of only a couple of hours, but we are planning a longer trip. Therefore I might need to take care of his personal needs.

I have no experience at all, but would really like to learn so neither of us are anxious and of course his dignity and comfort are maintained.

Does anyone have any advice?

Could you ask someone at the nursing home? Maybe they could discreetly let you watch how they do it, so you see how they move them/lift them.

I talked to one his main carers today and she was lovely.
She reassured me that before we take him out, he is helped to the loo and as he wears protection he is then OK for a number of hours (gosh, I feel really disrespectful talking about him in this way).

I guess if things change then I can be more proactive in learning how to care for him, but for now it's OK.

We took him for a pub lunch today which was lovely - but I did work up a bit of a sweat pushing him back up the hill!

Taking him out for a pub lunch is such a lovely thing to do abs you sound so caring

The good thing is that incontinence underwear comes in different absorbencies. If you are taking him out for many hours, it's fine to ask the staff to put an overnight / heavy pair on before he leaves , and he'll be fine. Those overnight ones hold a huge amount ( over a quart) of liquid , so you can take him out with confidence.