Sophie's stories is like many out there that you see. She wanted so badly to return home to her apartment and live out her days independently. She was, after all 89 years old and had been doing well this far without asking for an assistance. Sophie was surviving on the help of her worried neighbors.
They enjoyed being there for Sophie and she had lived by them for over a decade now. Problem is Sophie was falling more and more. At first, Sophie's fall was just tripping on a newspaper she had left in the living room. Then she tripped on the door stop leaving her house. Then one day Sophie tripped on the stairs outside and couldn't get up. Sophie had fractured her hip and arm. ..
Her hospital stay was going smoothly. She had managed to recover quite nicely and her neighbors would be able to care for her. She headed to the local skilled nursing home and therapy helped her get strong enough to maneuver the 3 stairs that had caused her fall. She passed all of her tests and one neighbor said she would be there.
This neighbor came to get Sophie and settle her in. She checked on her later that night. The next day she seemed fine. The day after that Sophie was saying she was a little worn out and wanted to rest. That night the neighbor thought something was wrong and brought her into the emergency room. Sophie's labs were fine. She was just still recovering and needed to take it easy. The neighbor promised to check on her 3 times the next day and they settled Sophie back into bed.
The next morning Sophie called an ambulance to take her into the emergency room. Sophie told the emergency room nurse upon check in, "I think I might need a little more help."
The nurse identified the nearest family member was in Arizona and had called her mother every day. She had indicated all was going well even an hour prior to the call to the hospital. Sophie passed all of her cognitive tests and was alert and comfortable. What was the difference?
Sophie told our placement navigator that was called to the emergency room that she was not able to cook when she arrived and didn't want to burden her neighbors so she hadn't eaten the first day she went home. The next day she was able to eat some leftovers the neighbor brought and snack on some crackers the rest of the day. She was really only feeling up to getting up to toilet and so she was feeling a little more worn out. She was worried she might fall like she had originally so she wasn't going to leave the house unless someone was right with her.
Sophie's choice became simple in that emergency room. She wanted more support. After reviewing with her a family care plan, it was determined that she would like to try in home care. Sophie started with 24 hour care for the first week but is now at 12 hours per day. She has also had CayCare's triage nurse contact her three times and Sophie has benefited from the guidance on her medications and follow up with physician. She had home health check on her the next day after her hospital stay but only qualified as home bound for a week. Sophie's choice has been to stay home with some care. She is more confident now and sure of what to do. She has a plan at home in place that will help Sophie know what to do if there is a next time from a fall. The best part is CayCare was able to donate the time it took to make a detailed care plan that Sophie agreed to. Her daughter in Arizona was sent a copy of the care plan and has all of Sophie's legal information in place and ready should another emergency ever come.
Sophie sent a special thank you to CayCare in a very nice letter.
"I didn't know what I needed until you arrived that day. I was in crisis and felt like they were going to take away my hope. I didn't want to burden my friends and family with my embarrassing falls. When you helped me say what I wanted and help me feel safe again I knew it was going to be okay. I wish I had known about you earlier. Maybe then I wouldn't have had that last fall that broke my hip. Please make sure you tell others what you do so they won't feel hopeless and ready to give up." This case study is for you Sophie.
*Note portions of this case study were altered to fiction to protect the identity of the client. This is including the name.
www.caycareplacement.com A free referral and resource agency that provides placement navigation to clients who are in the healthcare continuum and need assistance with placement or in home care. We specialize in geriatric but can serve all ages. We utilize a unique team approach that prevents re hospitalizations and empowers families to make the best decisions about the long and short term care plan.
