11 minute read
Preventing hospital readmission
Preventing hospital readmissions
After a lengthy stay in the hospital due to an accident, surgery or illness, the thought of taking care of yourself can be scary and overwhelming—especially if your body is still recovering and you don’t feel up to everyday living tasks like bathing, cooking, cleaning or driving. After hospitalization, many people are afraid of not having adequate care—and for good reason. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported in September 2019 that nearly 20 percent of people experience adverse events within three weeks of being discharged from the hospital, three-quarters of which were preventable.
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Many adverse events following hospital discharge are associated with the transition from hospital care to home. Assessing an individual’s ability to care for themselves and having adequate support and care after discharge can be difficult. As a result, people are often left without proper post-hospitalization care. Even those who have help from friends and family can face readmission after a hospital stay. This is often due to confusion and miscommunication during the discharge process from the hospital, or inadequate ability to provide care upon returning home.
Post-hospitalization home care can reduce the risk of readmission and help ensure a speedy recovery.
Professional in-home care Many of the risks that arise during post-hospital recovery can be reduced or eliminated by hiring a professional inhome aide who is trained and experienced in providing post-hospital care to people who need support.
In-home caregivers can help with daily living tasks that could cause further injury. Feeding pets, preparing a meal, buying groceries—all of these simple activities can potentially cause an injury and require readmission. With the help of in-home caregivers, these activities can be safely taken care of. After returning home from a hospital stay, some people may find it difficult to remember when to take medications, how the medications should be administered and what the proper dosages are, or to get prescriptions refilled. In-home care provides medication reminders so medications are taken responsibly and on-time; caregivers can also monitor any side effects that may occur so that a doctor can be notified.
Continuous care and monitoring by experienced inhome caregivers help identify potential problems faster. Caregivers can alert those who are recovering and their medical professionals of concerns that could cause readmission if not addressed early enough during the recovery process.
Along with the safety value that in-home care provides, home care also allows individuals to recover in their own comfortable environment. Comfort alone can help people relax and recover a little faster, and these are just some of the many benefits that home care provides to those recovering after a hospital stay.
20 % of patients experience adverse events within 3 weeks of discharge (75% were preventable)
$17B ($17 billion) annual costs of hospital readmissions
Living with a traumatic brain injury
As told by Anna’s parents Anna is a young adult woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury at six weeks of age from a motor vehicle accident. She suffers from executive function issues due to trauma to the brain’s frontal lobe. This affects her mood, her ability to plan and her socialization skills. Anna is very sensitive to noise, large groups of people and people who are too energetic. She is most successful in an environment that is calm, has fewer people and is structured.
Most people don’t realize the day to day struggles people with traumatic brain injury experience just to manage their day. The challenge with obtaining care in the home has always been matching the right caregiver with Anna and having them understand her needs and behaviors as a brain injured adult.
When our family moved to Prescott, AZ, it was important to find a care agency with an understanding of brain injury and caregivers with the ability to engage with Anna in a positive way. I was reluctant to turn over care to an in-home care agency after many failed respite interactions. I was introduced to SYNERGY HomeCare of Prescott Valley and had initial contact with Alan Wikman, the owner. Alan was very compassionate and understanding of my current needs and concerns. Having had years of experience with various respite providers, I was able to determine very quickly that SYNERGY HomeCare was different and did spend more time screening and training their caregivers.
Anna’s needs require consistent and reliable caregivers who can meet her daily needs in a predictable and structured environment. The caregivers from SYNERGY HomeCare are friendly, understanding and reliable. The caregivers allow Anna to do as much as she can and coach her when things are more challenging. They provide the security and positive environment Anna needs to be successful in our home. Even when Anna’s days are more challenging, they provide patience, empathy and safety to bring about a positive change for Anna.
Now it’s my turn
When you work hard your whole life and look forward to a playful retirement where the road to travel and adventure is infinite, tragedy is the last thing on your mind.
Betty Leach has a heart wrenching story that is all too familiar. Betty and her husband, Bob, lived a happy life together and were very successful. Unfortunately, shortly after retirement, Betty’s husband experienced a life-altering stroke that left him paralyzed and incapable of moving and speaking and unable to care for himself.
Betty had to change her way of life and begin caring for her husband. Bob was in the hospital for an extended period of time and his doctors felt that it would be best for him to be admitted into a nursing home. Betty’s love and loyalty for her husband was unwavering, and she refused the doctors’ recommendations and insisted that Bob go home with her instead. It took Betty some time to learn how to provide the care that Bob needed, but once she developed a plan, he was released to go back home with her. Betty cared for her husband to a great extent, including changing and cleaning his tracheostomy tube, bathing him, moving him and giving him his medications. For ten years, Betty provided loving care for Bob in their home until he passed away. She then found herself alone and struggling to take care of the large home they once shared. After a short time of asking her children for help, she realized that she needed to downsize. Betty sold the home and moved into an independent living facility. She adjusted to life in her new apartment, and after several years she decided to seek some help for herself as her back had grown tired from caring for Bob for so many years. She contacted SYNERGY HomeCare to come in and provide services for her.
SYNERGY HomeCare caregivers help Betty keep her apartment tidy, do her laundry and run her weekly errands. Betty is proud that she can still get around and do some things for herself, but she is grateful for the help that she receives. SYNERGY HomeCare has been providing services to Betty since 2013, and she is still just as pleased with the care she receives as she was in the beginning. A good part of Betty’s life was spent caring for others. SYNERGY HomeCare is honored to provide some care and relief to her, as she has definitely earned it.
Life beyond spina bifida
In 2016, SYNERGY HomeCare of Rockville, MD, received a call from the Veterans Affairs office regarding a young man in Montgomery County who had spina bifida. The young man fit all the criteria to benefit from the Agent Orange Act—a law that established a benefits package for the children of veterans who were born with spina bifida as a result of exposure during wartime service in either Korea or Vietnam. The Agent Orange Benefits Act provides lifetime health care services for those born with spina bifida and other disabilities associated with this condition. Not well versed about spina bifida, the Rockville staff educated itself about the condition and how to best care for someone who has it. What the staff did not yet know was how one young man with this condition would change their lives.
This young man is Sam Hardwick. He is sensitive, warmhearted and witty, and he is the youngest of nine children in a close-knit and loving family. Sam gets joy from his friendships with SYNERGY HomeCare caregivers. Obviously, the caregivers are there to help Sam with his activities of daily living, but the relationship between Sam and his caregivers has become so much more. He has a strong emotional connection with his caregivers, which is important to Sam and his family.
Over the years, Sam and Ross Fierman, the owner of SYNERGY HomeCare of Rockville, have become close friends. The two have lunch together once a month and enjoy animated discussions about their favorite sports teams and catching up on their day-to-day activities.
“If you would have told me 20 years ago that my life will be changed for the better because of spina bifida, my eye rolls would have been very obvious. How absurd, right? But today, when I think of Sam and the joy he has brought into my life, it’s so very true,” Ross said. “The essential nature of being alive and being human is to experience life in its purest form—the wins and losses, celebrations and challenges, and the good with the bad.”
In addition to being close friends, Sam and Ross are now colleagues! Sam has been hired as a SYNERGY HomeCare staff assistant, and everyone is thrilled to have him there. As told by Sam It was time. My dad and mom began to realize they needed some help caring for me. We were concerned about letting strangers into our home and uncertain about how it would all work out.
We need not have worried. Under the expert supervision of Ross at SYNERGY HomeCare, we were introduced to some of the most talented and caring people that anyone could have hoped for.
I ended up with not only the best caregivers, Sam, Yenzi and Darrell, but some of the best friends I have known. They treat me like family, and that’s how I feel about them as well.
I truly feel privileged to work with really great people at SYNERGY HomeCare.
So, thanks guys, and keep up the great work! But this doesn’t mean I’m going to let you win at Yahtzee. We know who is the King of Yahtzee!
Sam Hardwick with the SYNERGY HomeCare team in Rockville, MD Owner: Ross Fierman
38 % of family caregivers spend over 30 hrs/wk on caregiving
85 % of family caregivers do not receive any respite care
Joe “Lucky” Lucchi was born in Brooklyn, NY, in November 1914. The son of poor Italian immigrants, his father washed dishes at the Waldorf Astoria while his mother taught him that hard work in school was important for the future. Today, Joe believes taking these lessons to heart has contributed to his success and longevity.
A prime example of the American Dream, Joe beams with pride when reminiscing about outings where he had been honored as a special guest. He proudly displays a photo of himself shaking hands with former New York governor, Mario Cuomo, during a black-tie ceremony celebrating Joe’s “outstanding service to the legal profession and the public.” Coincidentally, this event was held at the same Waldorf Astoria hotel where his father once washed the dishes.
At 105 years old, Joe is in better health today than a year ago, largely due to the excellent care he receives seven days a week from SYNERGY HomeCare. His primary caregiver, Rose, laughs and flexes her muscles because she is so proud of how she has helped Joe regain his strength and vitality. While the average 105-year-old man might be slowing down, “Lucky” Lucchi is vibrant and thriving.
Joe continues to receive recognition and invitations to special events for his many life accomplishments. He was recently a guest speaker at an event to honor and learn from centenarians. Because SYNERGY HomeCare caregivers take the burden out of life’s everyday tasks, Joe and his wife of 50 years can still focus on enjoying all of life’s events. They don’t have to worry about laundry, cooking, or running errands because their SYNERGY HomeCare caregiver is at their service.
Joe smiles as he says to SYNERGY HomeCare of Arlington, VA’s owner, Mitch Opalski, “The SYNERGY HomeCare caregivers help me progress. Sometimes people in the community tell me to slow down because I am walking too fast! During the course of the day, no matter what I ask of my caregivers, especially Rose, she does it well and she does it willingly! She’s good. She always has a smile! Rose is available to help with any chore; she keeps me healthy.”
“SYNERGY HomeCare is a big help, the caregivers know my routine, I don’t have to tell them, they know what I like and need. They help me with everything. My caregivers are prompt and reliable. We have made numerous new friends since starting care with SYNERGY HomeCare; all of this has made a positive impact in my life.”
Joe Lucchi, his wife, and SYNERGY HomeCare caregiver from Arlington, VA Owner: Mitch Opalski
