Periodic Tasks and Maintenance

Restock spare items as used

See our list of spare items such as toilet rolls, light bulbs and batteries etc to keep stocked up with.

Nail cutting and hairdressing

Don't forget to make sure that finger and toe nails are cut by someone when required. See our section on nails, which covers tips on how to cut them more easily, and on podiatrists.

Similarly, don't forget haircuts (see our note on mobile hairdressers).

Birthday cards to sign

Keep track of their loved ones' birthdays and provide cards for them to sign (and obviously for Christmas etc). If they're no longer able to write then fill in the message for them, and help them to sign it either by having a piece of paper for them to copy from, or by helping them hold the pen and guiding their hand to make a simple X or two.

House (and other) maintenance jobs

Schedule in the various house (and other) maintenance jobs, including:

• smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms should be tested, cleaned, have batteries replaced and the whole unit replaced at the recommended intervals.
• batteries - some units such as thermostats have recommended intervals for replacing the batteries, and for other items that are very important to your loved one it's worth changing the batteries at reasonable intervals, and for others check periodically that they're still working. Some units, such as some video intercoms, may have internal batteries that need recharging.
• fall and personal alarms should be tested at the intervals stated.
• RCDs (residual current devices) should be tested periodically.
• heating boiler service.
• check wheelchair wheels periodically, and if they can be wobbled (when the chair's empty) or the nuts holding the wheels on appear to be working loose then tighten them up.
• window cleaning to improve the view.

Periodic admin jobs

Schedule in the various other periodic admin jobs, including:

• home insurance renewal and payment.
• doing their tax return if required (also see our section on power of attorney).
• if you've opted out of junk mail, you'll need to opt out again at the stated periods.
• check that the contents of the hospital bag are still present and up to date.