Take the time you need to recover at home in your own space before getting back to living life on your own terms.
Ms Lilith is a dear woman who became a client of ours when her daughter Harriett got in touch. At almost 74, Ms Lilith has been blessed with good health apart from a few niggles that come with growing older. She lived alone in a safe, cosy apartment complex and enjoyed her everyday routine and an active social life.
Harriett arrived at her mother’s home after getting some strange phone calls from her mother’s number. You can imagine the fear and worry when she discovered her on the floor. Ms Lilith had tripped and fallen that morning and couldn’t get up. She had her phone nearby but couldn’t hear that Harriett had picked up the call.
At the hospital, the orthopedic surgeon confirmed that Ms Lilith had a hip fracture and would require surgery. Fortunately, the operation was a success and there were no complications, but Harriett noticed a distinct drop in her mother’s energy after almost two weeks in the hospital. She found out that the doctors had explained that on discharge Ms Lilith would need to be admitted to a step-down facility for at least 6 weeks of recovery and rehabilitation.
The prospect of being away from home in a strange environment was the last thing Ms Lilith wanted. She wanted to sleep in her own bed, use her own bathroom and have a few crisps with a small glass of wine before dinner every night. She wanted to eat food that she liked and get back to seeing her friends and having her brand-new great granddaughter visit as soon as possible. Harriett called us because she wanted to explore what other options, they had to help her mother get back on her feet without disrupting her way of life and her routine too much.
Together with Ms Lilith, her healthcare team and Harriett we came up with a flexible care plan that entailed full time care for 8 weeks while Ms Lilith’s mobility was limited. The physios visited the apartment to help Ms Lilith through her exercises and our carers, Jillian and Esme, were there to keep her company, take care of things around the house and keep her in her routine. After 8 weeks, the care plan was adjusted to part time care of a few hours twice a day to have someone take care of meals and help her with her personal hygiene and exercises.
After 12 weeks, Ms Lilith was back on her feet. Harriett wrote to us and had this to say:
My mother’s spirit was crushed at the thought of going to a step-down facility for months on end. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to find you and discover that you were able to offer us a flexible plan. My mother has enjoyed being back at home and I’m sure it has a lot to do with how well she has recovered. Jillian and Esme were life savers – I don’t know what we would have done without them! Thank you so much for the care and compassion you’ve shown us. I’m planning to take my mother to visit her great granddaughter on Sunday and that wouldn’t have been possible without your help. Thank you!
Sincerely, Harriett
Hospitalisation is never fun. Most of us just want to get home asap to rest and recover in familiar surroundings. But after a serious injury or procedure rushing the recovery or trying to do too much, too quickly can do more harm than good.
It can be tough to physically manage, accept your limitations or figure out the array of devices and new routines you need to recuperate. These are just some of the reasons why there are step-down facilities popping-up all over the place offering temporary frail-care – complete with meals on a tray!
The ideal scenario is to have all the benefits of step-down care in the privacy of your own home, in the comfort of your own bed, and with the help of nurse-led carers that are focussed only on you. And for a comparable cost, too!
CareCompany offers a ‘Hospital to Home’ post-op/aftercare service to help you get back on your feet. You or your loved one can come home after a hospital stay with the peace of mind that there is some you can trust at your side and can depend on for medical guidance, emotional support, and practical assistance.
We take a multi-disciplinary approach to step-down care. In other words, qualified nurses oversee your care and attend to your medical needs, while an experienced carer looks after the day-to-day tasks, so you can focus on getting well and leave the rest to us. This approach has been proven to provide tailored care and help to keep the costs down.
Whether you need a high level of care for an extensive period or some support with simple activities while you recuperate and get back to normal, our team of nurses and carers can provide a range of services to help you get well again. If you or a family member need time to recover before getting back to living life on your own terms, call us to chat about how we can tailor make a special in-home care package to suit your individual needs.
Caring for a loved one can be overwhelming. The CareCompany team is made up of exceptional carers and registered nurses who can offer you the best advice and support. Call us on 072 667 8664 or email gethelp@carecompany.co.za for more information about how we help elders maintain their dignity and independence while living in their own home.
