Lack of details on day to day caring

Specific disabilities and conditions
1

Although there is a lot of info out there and in CarersUK website I still find a lack of details on day to day caring.
You wash their clothes, clean vital areas like kitchen and bathroom, check they have take their medication and re-ordered same, you help them wash/shower, hoover and dust, garden, shop, get them out for a walk, give them some company.
They may have problems with eyesight, memory, balance, incontinence for example.
The advice seems to be, if you do not live with them, stay away and contact them through phone, email etc … HOWEVER …most of the tasks above cannot be done except by being there i.e entering their house.
Is that allowed, is it safe, what are the alternatives?

2

When are people allowed to leave their homes?

Mr Johnson said everybody should stay at home and would only be allowed to leave for specific reasons:

Shopping for “basic necessities”, as infrequently as possible. People should use delivery services, where they can
Medical reasons, to provide care, or to help a vulnerable person
Travelling to and from work, but only if it is “absolutely necessary”

3

Thanks susieq they seem to be saying it is ok to visit to help vulnerable person in self-isolation but then next minute seems to say NO, we live in a small town so probably no police to stop you but how would you prove you are only out for the right reason. I have heard some say you cannot take granny for a walk but then it is suggested you can, mum lives 30 yds from a golf course so we assume it is ok.
Then of course there is the worry of depression and anxiety, already there in spades with my mum and not likely to be alleviated by even regular phone-calls, I suppose we each have to fit the rules to our particular situation and hope for the best.
Take care

4

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

5

I feel at a loss here too. I care for my mum and am self isolating myself as I’m asthmatic. I’ve been travelling by car but now I’m not sure how safe it is to do this. It’s all very well saying we can do it but nobody is telling us how safe it is. I haven’t been round since the lockdown announcement but feel so guilty and I’m worried about mum’s mental health, physically she is reasonably independent, but she is still grieving for my dad who we lost 10 months ago. I’m phoning her frequently throughout the day but would feel so much better nipping round there if I knew it was safe.

6

I think at the end of the day the rules cannot cover every situation so it has to be a balancing act. My mum is 91 and needs help with cleaning, washing, meals, medication etc that cannot be done over the phone or skype. So I am as much as I can self-isolating except for weekly shop/pharmacy and visiting her once a day to do the things that need done whilst keeping recommended social distancing from her, we are 30 yds from the golf course and get a wee walk there as is more or less empty. It is not all about the physical and phone calls or skype are not the same as actually seeing someone, I worry that the isolation will lead to a rise in dementia amongst the elderly if not to actual deaths due to depression etc.
All anyone can do is their best in their given circumstances we just have to decide what to do and take the consequences good or bad.

7

Thanks to those who posted info, they cannot cover every situation and I was struggling to work out where my mum sat in the advice, I am sure there are those carees who NEED someone there several times a day or else they would be stuck in bed and with no cleaning of personal or domestic nature that is not good.
As I said in my previous reply all you can do is read instructions and do your best.
Take care everyone.