Unit 2 Lesson 2: Caregiving

Tools, Equipment, and

Paraphernalia (UT)
What is caregiving?
Caregiving is providing care for the physical
and emotional needs of a family member or a
friend at home.
Caregiving may involve:
♦assisting with meals, personal care and
transportation.
♦helping with medical procedures and therapy.
CAREGIVER
“Caregiver” is a general term referring to anyone
who provides care for a person who needs
extra help. ... As the name suggests, private duty
home caregivers perform care-related activities in
the home and personal care, typically related to
one's everyday life and relieve the caregiver
burden of a family member.
 Caregiving Tools, Equipment, and
Paraphernalia (UT) Introduction
• As one of the health care providers, a caregiver must
demonstrate skills in using tools, equipment, and
paraphernalia in taking care of a patient because these
are used to do a particular task, whether cleaning,
preparing a meal, or taking vital signs. For this reason, it
is essential to identify and learn how to use various tools,
equipment, and paraphernalia in caregiving.
 Caregiving Tools, Equipment, and
Paraphernalia

Preparing for Meal

Time Taking care of a patient includes preparation of
healthy meals. Below are the things needed to fulfill
the task.
Airpot
• An airpot is a container used to store liquid
which maintains its hotness or coldness
Blender
• A blender is a kitchen appliance which is used in preparing
puree, or liquidized meals specially made for the patient who
is in a soft diet.
Food Processor
• This kitchen appliance has a similar function with the blender.
Aside from shredding and chopping the food ingredients
easily, this is also used for making a puree or liquidized meal.
However, it differs from the blender in terms of its detachable
blades. Each detachable blade is meant for a specific task
like chopping, mincing, pureeing and grating.
Coffeemaker
• This countertop appliance is used to brew coffee. Usually, coffee is
served to older adults. However, you have to be reminded that
anything in excess can have serious side effects. So, as a caregiver,
you need to monitor the daily caffeine consumption of your clients or
you have to know from the doctor if they are allowed before giving
them a cup.
Ladle
• This tool is used for serving soup. Also, it is used for measuring and
portioning liquids. Most of the patients who have difficulty in eating
solid food, choose to have soup instead. Therefore, this tool must be
present in meal preparation.
Food tong
• This kitchen hand tool is useful in preparing the meals of your
patient. For instance, using your bare hands in transferring food
items from the platter to the patient’s plate is not safe, and it can
cause food contamination. This tool is used to hold and grasp food
items.
Peeler
• Fruits and vegetables are always present in a patient’s meal. Therefore,
this short tool with a slotted, swiveling blade is also important in order to
peel the fruits and vegetables.
Knife
• This cutting tool is necessary for meal preparation since most of the
food ingredients need to be cut or sliced.
Cutting board
• This tool is an important partner of the knife. Cutting boards can be
hardwood, rubber, or plastic. There are also color-coded cutting
boards that are designed to reduce cross-contamination. Each color
corresponds to a food category, for example, green board is used
for vegetables and fruits, yellow for raw poultry , blue for cooked
poultry, white for dairy products, brown for fish and other seafoods
and red for raw meat.
Microwave Oven
• This kitchen appliance is used mostly for heating prepared food and
for thawing raw or cooked items.
For Cleaning, Ironing, and Washing
• Keeping the patient’s room and tools clean is important to prevent
any air-borne diseases and reduce the chance of infection.
Sterilizer
• In handling patients with an infectious disease or a baby, sterilizing
any tool is important to help reduce viruses or bacteria. With the use
of sterilizer, you can eliminate harmful microorganisms in tools or in
feeding bottles.
Dishwasher
• Manual dishwashing is alright, however, your time must be spent
mostly in looking after your patient. The dishwasher might be a big
help in cleaning dishes, eating utensils, and pots.
Washing Machine
• This equipment is needed in order to wash the clothes of a
patient and linen quickly.
Dryer
• This equipment is used immediately after washing a load of clothing,
linen, or any other textiles. It removes the moisture quickly from the
fabric.
Flat Iron and Ironing Board
• The flat iron is used to press clothes, linens, or any other fabrics,
while the board is used as a working surface when ironing.
Vacuum Cleaner
• Since most of the dirt and dust is way too small to see, the vacuum
cleaner is effective in cleaning the floors, carpets and other surfaces
by sucking up the dust.
Taking Vital Signs

Sphygmomanometer
• The word sphygmo comes from the Greek word for pulse, and -manometer
which means a flat instrument to measure pressure. Particularly, this tool is
used to measure blood pressure. Blood pressure is a vital sign in order to
know the health information and of a person. The blood pressure level
interprets the flow of blood to the body’s tissues. A blood pressure level that
is too low means the tissues of the body are not receiving enough oxygen
and nutrients. Meanwhile, a blood pressure level that is too high requires the
heart to do extra work which eventually damages it over time. There are
three types of sphygmomanometer.
• An aneroid manometer is a small, round dial with a needle that
indicates the pressure.

• A mercury manometer is a column of mercury that may be mounted on a

wall or placed on a table.
• A digital sphygmomanometer provides a blood pressure reading
without needing someone to inflate and deflate the cuff or listen to
the blood flow sounds. The blood pressure is displayed digitally.
Link on how to use the following paraphernalias;
Aneroid manometer
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4RY6gYsxQ
Mercury manometer
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HorZ2A-R6Yg
Digital sphygmomanometer
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTapvWBwrz8
Stethoscope
• This device is used to take an apical pulse which makes
the sounds louder and allows you to hear each beat of
the person’s heart. The device consists of the following
parts:
• Earpieces are two tubes that aid in listening to the
sounds produced by the body parts and receive by the
chest-piece.

• Brace and binaural connect the earpieces to the rubber

or plastic tubing that conducts the sound.

• An amplifying device makes the sound louder. This

includes the diaphragm and bell.
Thermometer

• This tool is used to measure body temperature. There

are many different types of thermometers in use.
Glass Thermometer
• consists of a glass bulb attached to a thin glass tube that is marked
with a temperature scale and filled with mercury. The mercury inside
the thermometer expands with heat and moves up the glass tube,
showing the temperature on the scale.
Electronic Thermometer
• is powered by batteries, and the temperature is displayed on a
screen on the front of the instrument.
Tympanic Thermometer
• is used to measure the body temperature in the ear.
Did You Know?
• Many people based their health status from the vital
signs because a change in vital signs can be an
important sign that something is wrong.
• A high temperature may be a sign of infection. Also,
drastic changes in the environmental temperature can
also affect a person’s body temperature.