Home Care Solutions provides ‘live-in’ care for many different Client needs. We have included below several stories of actual Clients we have assisted in making their decision to remain at home a reality. You can see what a significant different it makes in many elderly people’s lives to have this option available for their situation – sometimes for only a short period of time and other times we stay for many years.

Lois’ Story – Rehabilitation/Long term care

Situation:

Lois, an 80 year old widow, suffered a fractured vertebra in her back due to a fall at home. After her hospitalization she was transferred to a nursing facility where she received Physical Therapy to regain her mobility. In order to be discharged to home, which was what she wanted, she would need someone to assist her in many areas. Lois has several children; however, they all have their own families and the many obligations that go with a busy life. They were not able to commit to caring for Lois.

Action Plan:

Home Care Solutions was contacted to provide live-in care to Lois which allowed her to return home. Originally she had a great deal of pain due to her fracture. Home Care Solutions connected her with a pain management institution where they were able to assist her to pain cessation.

Lois regained her independence with the help of a Home Health Aide who allowed her to do as much as she could on her own and assisting with those things that she was not able to do alone. Her nutrition improved greatly as well as having the benefit of assistance with an ongoing exercise program.

Outcome:

Home Care Solutions has had the privilege of providing services for Lois for over four years. Live-in care has allowed Lois to remain safe and comfortable in her home. She continues to receive Physical Therapy and attends an adult day program to assist her in keeping her strength at a maximum level.

Lois is living her life to the fullest. She continues to attend social functions and travel, which she so greatly enjoys.

Francis’ Story – Long term care

Situation

Francis was an 86 year old widow, who had no children. She was in need of live-in home care and had hired a caregiver privately. She also had a male neighbor who looked out for her and a financial advisor to assist her with her financial matters.

Her financial advisor identified there was verifiable financial exploitation taking place by Francis’ private caregiver. He contacted a geriatric care manager to get advice on what he could do to protect his Client while continuing to meet her care needs. [Coincidentally, Francis’ neighbor had also become highly suspicious of the private caregiver’s activities].

Action Plan:

A Care Manager was hired as well as a Power of Attorney (POA) for finances. Home Care Solutions was called to provide live-in Home Health Aide assistance. [The private caregivers had to be physically removed from the Client’s home].

At the initiation of services by HCS, many improvements were made in the Care Plan to insure the Client received the best possible care. It became apparent that there was significant room for improvement in providing care for Francis. For example, there were many outdated/expired medications in the home as well as rotten food in the refrigerator. The Client was despondent and just not herself.

Outcome:

According to her neighbor, shortly after the changes were made and Home Care Solutions was providing live-in care, “Francis had her personality back.” She had a zest for living and felt independent again. Best of all, she could remain in her home, which was her choice of where she wanted to live!

Ruth’s Story – Recuperation

Situation:

Ruth was a 93 year old lady who had no immediate family. She had been hospitalized after suffering a fracture from fall at home. A condition of being discharged to home, set by her physician, was to have a live-in caregiver to assist her in her recuperation. The other option was to go to a nursing facility until she was fully rehabilitated.

Home Care Solutions was contacted by a social worker at the hospital with a request to meet with Ruth and discuss the option of live-in Home Health Aide assistance.

Action Plan:

Live-in home care was initiated by Home Care Solutions. Ruth also received Physical Therapy from another home care agency, who offered skilled services. Ruth initially required assistance with walking, her exercise program and various personal cares.

Outcome:

After receiving Physical Therapy for several weeks, along with one-on-one assistance with personal cares, housekeeping and laundry chores taken care of, and enjoying nutritious home cooked meals, Ruth quickly began to regain her strength. Within six weeks, she was again able to live in her home independently.

Ruth felt that if she had gone to a nursing facility instead of going home it would have taken her longer to recuperate.

Wally and Evelyn’s Story – Couple

Situation:

Wally and Evelyn were a long-married couple without children. Wally was in the last stages of terminal cancer. He was worried about who would care for Evelyn when he was gone. Evelyn had no physical limitations, however, she had dementia and could not be entirely responsible for herself. Because of Wally’s diagnosis and his treatment side effects, he was placed in a skilled nursing facility as Evelyn could no longer care for him at home.

Action Plan:

Home Care Solutions was initially called to provide care for Wally, enabling him to return home to be with Evelyn. In his home environment he was able to physically plateau and again attain a level of independence which he so greatly desired.

At some point after he was settled and stabilized at home he was approached by a private caregiver who enticed him into making the decision to discontinue services from Home Care Solutions and to hire her “for less money”.

It was not long before we received a call from Wally’s sister who stated “You need to get back here, it’s just a mess”! Home Care Solutions restarted services. It was a big decision for Wally to give up the couple’s financial responsibilities; however it was becoming apparent that it was very difficult for him to function in that capacity. HCS referred Wally to an agency that assists people in money matters. Wally was comfortable with his new assistant.

Outcome:

Home Care Solutions cared for Wally and Evelyn for 3 years. Wally was able to stay at home until he passed away. Evelyn’s dementia had progressed to the point that she needed live-in care in order to remain at home. HCS is still providing care. Wally was able to pass away in peace, knowing that HCS was there for Evelyn and she would continue to thrive in their home.

Violet’s Story – Hospice

Situation:

Violet and Marv had been married for 40 plus years. Marv had been Violet’s caregiver since she had been diagnosed with cancer. Her condition was fairly stable for a few years but, unfortunately, as her health took a turn for the worse, Marv had a sudden and unexpected heart attack and passed away.

The family was devastated. They did not know what they were going to do. Not one of the adult children was home during the day to attend to their mother’s needs. Violet’s only son lived in another state and she did not want to leave her friends and the majority of her family and move to a strange place. Her daughter’s lives were so busy and already overloaded with responsibilities and activities, that they felt her moving in with one of them was not an option.

Begrudgingly, the children decided the answer might have to be moving Vi to a nursing home. Even though their mother was having difficulty handling her grief over the death of her husband, and she had stated many times she wanted to remain “at home”, the family thought this was the only thing they could do to ensure their mother had the care she needed. That was until the funeral director told them about Home Care Solutions.

Action Plan:

A family member called our office and learned that Home Care Solutions specialized in providing “live-in” Home Health Aide assistance under the supervision of a Registered Nurse. After an assessment was completed that same day, we initiated home care services for Vi.

Outcome:

She was so happy to be able to be in her home and be able to have her friends and relatives stop in to visit in her last months of life. She could guide her own cares as long as she was able to do so and she was able to pass away in the home she brought her children home from the hospital to a home that harbored all the memories of her adult life.

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