People living in larger bodies are frequently turned away from home care, or accepted and then given carers who arrive without the right equipment or the right training. The result is care that is unsafe for everybody and humiliating for the person receiving it.
This work is not complicated. It needs correct equipment, enough people, proper technique, and staff who behave normally.
What actually matters at home
- Equipment has to be rated for the person, not approximately right. Beds, lifts, slings, commodes and wheelchairs all have safe working loads, and using something under-rated is dangerous for everyone in the room.
- Two carers are often needed, and pretending otherwise is how backs and hips get injured — both the person’s and the carer’s.
- Skin folds need real attention, because moisture and friction cause breakdown quickly and it is difficult to see and reach.
- Mobility is often better than assumed, and doing too much for someone reduces it fast.
- Dignity is the whole issue. Most people in larger bodies have already had bad experiences with healthcare, and arrive expecting another one.
How we help
- Honest assessment of what equipment the home actually needs before care starts, rather than discovering it on the first visit
- Two-carer visits where the transfer genuinely requires two, arranged as standard rather than as an exception
- Personal care including thorough skin fold care, drying and inspection, which prevents the most common complications
- Safe transfers using correctly rated lifts and slings, by carers trained on that equipment
- Support with mobility and movement to preserve the independence a person has
- Meal preparation, without moralizing, to whatever plan the person and their dietitian or bariatric team have set
- Support before and after bariatric surgery where that is part of the picture
- Carers who treat the person as a person
Who provides the care
Personal support workers provide this care, in pairs where the transfer requires it. Nursing is placed where the plan includes it, including skin and wound care. Equipment normally comes through an occupational therapist assessment; we will tell you what is needed and work with whoever is arranging it.
Common questions
Other agencies have turned us down. Will you?
We assess what the situation actually needs — the equipment, the number of carers, the training — and tell you honestly whether we can staff it safely. What we will not do is accept the work and then send one person with the wrong equipment.
Will you send two carers?
Where the transfer requires two, yes. It protects the person being moved as much as the people moving them, and a single carer attempting a two-person transfer is how serious injuries happen.
Who pays for the equipment?
Equipment is usually arranged through an occupational therapist assessment, and Ontario’s Assistive Devices Program funds part of the cost of many items for eligible people. Ontario Health atHome can arrange the assessment. Ask before buying anything privately.
Will your carers be respectful?
That is what we screen for, and it is the part we would ask you to hold us to. Tell us immediately if it is not what you experience.
Can you help after bariatric surgery?
Yes — the early weeks after surgery involve a strict staged diet, wound observation, and gradually rebuilding activity, and support at home through that period is straightforward and useful.
Where we provide this care
We provide this support across communities across Ontario, from the Greater Toronto Area to Thunder Bay. If your town is not listed, call us — we will tell you honestly whether we can staff it properly rather than promising and then failing to turn up.
Related
- Hip and knee replacement
- Falls and fractures
- Wound care
- Home care — what it covers
- Respite care for family carers
- 24-hour home care
- All the communities we serve
Not sure what you need? That is the normal starting point. A free consultation is a conversation about what is actually happening at home — no charge, no obligation, and we will point you at publicly funded care first where you may qualify for it.