Physicians often see older patients who have complex issues related to the aging process. Your Eldercare Consultants can be an excellent resource for guidance and support beyond a patient’s need for medical management.
As older adults are discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation setting, Discharge Planners may also observe a patient’s need for some transitional support during recuperation from a chronic or acute illness. A change in their emotional, physical or psychological health may have impacted their ability to return to their former lifestyle.
We are in a unique position to understand the challenges of working with an older person. Think about making a referral to Your Eldercare Consultants when a patient:
- Has difficulty following instructions and taking medication correctly.
- Is missing appointments or calling frequently.
- Has no family in the area and needs professional support and guidance.
- Might be unsafe to live alone.
Every person’s situation is different. There are many other instances where healthcare professionals recommend the consultation of an experienced geriatric care manager to promote an older adult’s health and well-being.
Situation: An 85-year-old retired and childless school teacher lived in a retirement community but did not go down for meals or participate in any activities. Her physician expressed concerns about her memory and her ability to care for herself after she had been hospitalized three times in the past year.
After consultation with her physician, Your Eldercare Consultants were able to:
- Encourage the teacher to accept in-home services and arrange for a home care worker.
- Provide bill payment services after discovering that she had stopped paying bills for over a year. Our care manager also contacted credit card companies to arrange a payment plan and reduce interest fees.
- Provide the teacher with an amplifying device to enhance phone calls.
- Recommend and facilitate a move to a nursing home that included a donation plan for her cherished possessions.
- Meet monthly with the teacher to assist and discuss her adjustment to her new environment, bringing a special milkshake treat that she loved.
Situation: A 76-year-old man, retired from a successful business, was taken to the hospital by paramedics because he was unable to get up by himself after falling in his cluttered apartment. The emergency room physician found no serious medical problem with the gentleman and was ready to discharge him. However, the hospital discharge planner was concerned that there was no family member to assist the patient in returning home from the emergency room. And according to the paramedics, the house was in total disarray. So the discharge planner referred the patient to Your Eldercare Consultants. The gentleman agreed to have the care manager from Your Eldercare Consultants meet him at his apartment when he was discharged from the hospital.
Solution: Your Eldercare Consultants was able to listen to the gentleman to identify his concerns. He admitted that he was extremely lonely and isolated. The care manager discovered he was donating over $400 every month to the dozens of charities that mailed him solicitations. He admitted that he needed assistance. With his approval, Your Eldercare Consultants:
- Arranged for a housekeeper to clean and straighten up the apartment.
- Contacted the charities and removed him from their mailing lists.
- Arranged for a caregiver to go grocery shopping with him once a week.
- Reviewed his living arrangements and recommended that he consider moving to a retirement community to help relieve his isolation.
- Arranged with his landlord to break his lease so that he could move to the selected retirement community.
- Arranged for movers and orchestrated the move.
- Helped him make a successful transition to living at the retirement community.
Whether you can plan ahead or are in a crisis,
call 773.508.1015 to start the process of working with Your Eldercare Consultants.