Caring for a parent after a knee replacement - what help did they actually want?

I am the one who will be at home with my father for the first few weeks and I keep getting conflicting advice about how much to do for him. Some people say let them struggle a little, others say take everything over at the start. What I am really after is what your family did that helped, and what felt like fussing. Was there anything you had to insist on that they would not have asked for on their own?