Home Health 101

Preface

I am home now what?

            It is an overwhelming and mentally draining task for those who deal with home bound issues and this book is written to alleviate the issues and hopefully offer solutions to the common problems and create new possibilities that the freedom of living at home may offer. Whether you are the person living independently or are struggling with having a loved one facing the possibility of institutional living the following pages should help you make the right decision if home living is right for you and then help you succeed with your decision.

            You must start by being totally honest and realize independent living can be one of the biggest struggles in life as well as it can be just as rewarding. We must be realistic with the limitations of our self and our surroundings. Doug a client of mine who I met in a nursing home is a great example of the limitations we must accept.

            I met Doug at a nursing home with Mark Johnson, an independent living coordinator, as Doug was interviewing me to coordinate his caregiver staff. Doug within a year of my age, around thirty at the time, and a really cool guy. He was a quadriplegic and had very little movement in his arms. At least every hour Doug would need to be coughed, as he had no control of his abdominal muscles so the most taken for granted task of just choking was impossible. A caregiver would have to push on his abdomen while he exhaled to force the air from his lungs and cause the coughing action.

            Doug was only allocated twelve hours of home care by the state, which would be impossible for Doug, as he needed more extent care. Mark came up with a plan in which we would find a caregiver to cover the extra hours by staying with Doug at night in trade for free rent. This is a great tactic in most situations but with Doug the night care was to extent and did not allow the evening person any sleep so they could not keep the pace of a second job needed to support themselves. We started having issues with the caregivers not getting enough sleep and could not get back-up care as there were no funds for these extra hours.

            The biggest issue for Doug was the lack of support from his family, they were not willing to help and thought that the care provider company should be responsible for ensuring the plan worked. This would be a great theory in a perfect world but as great as this world is it is not perfect. The extra hours are Doug’s final responsibility and should include the support of  his family. They were unwilling to provide any emergency care for Doug and only added to the problems by creating issues with the caregiver staff.

            These problems progressed until Doug was unable to continue independent living and was forced back to the nursing home. Two months after returning to the nursing home Doug passed, as do most people forced into institutional living. Could Doug have succeeded at independent living? With a supportive family or state funding to provide the extra hours of care needed by Doug I feel he could have been much more successful and probably been much happier.

            We must carefully weigh our strengths and limitations and the limitations of our environment including our friends and family. Be honest with yourself and find strength in the ideas of this book and knowing thousands of individuals are facing and succeeding at the issues facing you today.