Home Care At Its Finest

What Tasks Are Considered “Light Housekeeping”? When Do You Need To Hire A Cleaning Service?

October 16, 2020

“Excuse the mess, but we live here.”

– Roseanne Barr

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and Home Health Aides (HHAs) provide many different services in the home such as assistance with bathing and meal preparation but it is the task of light housekeeping that often requires additional clarification on a client’s Service Plan. Housekeeping, whether it is wiping down a counter or cleaning windows, tends to get lumped together into one category, indistinguishable by light, medium, or deep cleaning tasks.

What Is Light Housekeeping?

Light housekeeping should be thought of as a task that a caregiver does to help provide better care to a client. For example, when a caregiver provides meal preparation, the client can count on the caregiver to clean up the kitchen, clear the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher or wash by hand, and then place back in the cupboard. When a client needs standby or hands-on assistance with bathing, the client can rest assured that a clean towel and clean clothes will be ready for them, that dirty laundry will be placed in a hamper for washing, and that the bathroom sink, toilet, countertops, and mirrors will be cleaned and ready for the next use.

Light housekeeping includes tasks such as dusting open surfaces; sweeping and mopping floors (damp mops – small areas and hard surface floors); vacuuming around furniture; wiping down counters; washing and putting dishes away; cleaning bathrooms and kitchens; taking out the trash; changing sheets and making the bed; and organizing drawers, shelves, and closets. Light housekeeping is meant to be limited to the areas used by the client such as the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living room. Light housekeeping is offered as one part of an overall Service Plan to a senior to keep him or her safe and independent in their home environment.

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What Is Deep Cleaning?

Deep cleaning, in comparison, includes tasks such as shampooing carpets, and steam cleaning or scrubbing floors; cleaning glass windows, windowsills, and glass doors; polishing chrome, brass, stainless steel, including fixtures; cleaning ceiling fans; cleaning roofs and gutters; cleaning the exterior of a house or outside furniture; cleaning the grout lines; moving heavy furniture; cleaning kitchen appliances such as the fridge, stove, microwave; or raking or mowing the grass. If you need help with these types of tasks, you may need to hire a cleaning or a maid service for regular deep cleaning.

Here Are Some Other Ways A Home Health Caregiver Can Help You:

  • Help with standby or hands-on assistance with the activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing, toileting, walking/mobility, transferring, feeding, grooming, and continence.
  • Grocery shopping and meal preparation
  • Errands
  • Driving
  • Medication reminding or assistance with self-administration of medication

To view a broader list of services offered by Collier Home Care, please click here.

Asking for someone to lend a hand can be hard to do, but it’s important. Oftentimes seniors will call us when they want to stay safely, securely, and independently in their home, and this often involves some degree of housekeeping.

Depending on what you need, Collier Home Care offers between one and 24 hours a day service, plus live-in care. It is our pleasure to care for you and your home!

If we can help with home health care services or determine an appropriate level of care, call us at (239) 920-3902 or reach us here.

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Phone: 239-920-3902

Email: mike@collierhomecare.com

Address: 3372 Woods Edge Cir, #102

Bonita Springs, FL 34134

BlogWhat Tasks Are Considered “Light Housekeeping”? When Do You Need To Hire A Cleaning Service?