Does this sound familiar? As a devoted daughter, primary caregiver for your parents, working woman, mother, wife… you may wear many hats in life. While you often feel that there are never enough hours in the day, you somehow manage to find the energy to accomplish most everything on your daily “to do” list. When a sudden, unexpected storm appears – like a new medical need for one of your parents – it seems almost impossible to continue to manage each integral component of your life effectively. You know it’s time to find some support and are considering all your options. Is home care for you?
Here’s a real-life example of how this solution worked for one dedicated daughter:
The scenario:
“Jane” works and is a mother and a wife. As the “go-to” sibling, she is also the primary caregiver for her parents.
Jane’s mom is an active, healthy, 60-year-old grandma who enjoys cooking, family gatherings, and sharing quality time with her many grandchildren. Jane’s dad is also 60 and loves gardening, sports, reading, church, and his family; although he’s been a paraplegic for 35 years, he’s self-sufficient and has been independently handling all the activities involved in daily living – all from his manual wheelchair.
The unexpected storm:
Jane’s dad strained his dominant right shoulder so much so that it required surgery. Further, as a result of his new limited functional ability with his right rotator cuff, he was sedentary longer than usual prior to his surgery; this led to some skin breakdown.
The new challenge:
Jane and her mom didn’t have the knowledge, skills, experience, or time to safely, effectively, and personally help her dad with his occupational therapy exercises or the proper management of his skin breakdown challenges. Jane’s dad desperately needed to be able to regain the use of his arm to return to using both of his arms, not only to transfer himself in and out of his wheelchair and around his home, but also to continue preparing meals, re-positioning himself in bed, getting dressed, handling his personal hygiene activities, and enjoying playing and interacting with his grandkids!
The solution:
To ensure full rehabilitation of his dominant right arm, Jane worked with Residential Home Health because their care team could provide all of her dad’s therapeutic and medical needs right at home. This took away the logistical challenges of physically getting him back and forth to a rehab center and removed the need to have him away from the love and comfort of his own home and family. Home health care enabled Jane’s dad to regain his strength and upper arm mobility while working with the actual clothes, resources, materials, furnishes, and equipment present in his own home.
The process:
Once Jane found Residential Home Health with the help of her dad’s doctor, the in-home occupational therapist started working with her dad several times a week, targeting the rehabilitation of his right shoulder. He progressed quickly with both his active range of motion ability and the renewal of his shoulder’s strength. While meeting with his occupational therapist each session in the comfort and convenience of his home, it soon became apparent that he needed additional support with physical therapy for his lower body as well. His doctor agreed and issued orders to add physical therapy to his plan of care. Further, a certified wound nurse was able to address and treat his skin breakdown issues right at home.
The result:
Jane’s dad is back to confidently and comfortably performing his self-care routines, daily living activities, and hobbies at the same level he was at prior to hurting his shoulder. He is able to safely transfer in and out of his wheelchair and bed with ease with the help of a slide board. At his surgical follow-up visit, Jane’s dad’s doctor was happy to see his progress. Also, Jane’s dad is visibly uplifted by his renewed physical independence and decreased reliance on others. He is once again an active, contributing, happy member of his family, his home, and his community.
As a caregiver, it’s hard to see a parent or loved one face challenges that you can’t fix for them. Sometimes help is needed to make sure a recovery or health challenge is resolved positively.
And sometimes, a home health care team is exactly the support needed to bring comfort and care in the home.
So check with your doctor, or your parent’s doctor, to find out if this is a resource that could make life better and brighter for you and your loved one!
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