Home Care and Preventative Health

February is a month-long initiative to celebrate Preventative Health Awareness. How does Home Care play its part in keeping you or your loved one healthy?

An Overwhelmed Hospital System

With hospital wait times growing and not having enough Family Physicians, it is paramount that we keep our and our loved ones' health a priority. A Profile of Hospitalized Seniors at Risk of Frailty in Canada from the Canadian Institute for Health Information says that more than 1/3 of hospitalized older adults are at risk of frailty. They are also 3x more likely to be high users of hospital beds, 3x more likely to be hospitalized for the next 30 days, 2x more likely to be rehospitalized within 30 days of discharge, and 2x more likely to die within one-year post-discharge. The top 6 conditions affecting older adults at risk are hypo and hypertension, cardiac and vascular disease, nutrition and wasting, infection, renal disease, and movement and immobility. Home care, along with your team of health professionals, can help decrease these statistics by keeping your loved one safe in their home and lowering some of the preventable causes of readmission!

A Holistic Healthcare Approach

Your team of health professionals, often called your Circle of Care, work towards the same goal- to keep you or your loved one healthy and independent and manage chronic conditions safely. Following your doctor's advice, treatment, and intervention is essential when living with a chronic condition. Often, you have more than one person in your Circle of Care, such as your doctor, family member, dietician, rehab professional, home care provider, and many more. By coordinating and facilitating an open communication line with your care providers, you advocate for a more holistic approach to care.

Home Care as Preventative Care Support

Home care is mainly needed when you are hospitalized, have experienced functional decline or have had a change in your medical condition that warrants temporary or long-term intervention. Home care can also be very beneficial for other situations, such as helping prevent worsening conditions. You or your loved one can get as little or as much support as your situation requires. Care Plans can be tailored with your help and the help of your Circle of Care. They could include medication management, exercising, supporting nutritious meals, keeping wounds clean, monitoring vital signs, and reporting to a doctor if needed. By following through with the custom Care Plan with the support of your Care Team of Caregivers led by your Care Planner, you can ensure symptoms are managed safely and limit rehospitalization and emergent care visits.

Home Care Helps Your Family Doctor

Frequent calls to your family doctors often add to their decreasing capacity. When home care is engaged, and a Care Plan is in place, your home care nurse may address some questions and concerns. A well-managed condition with the help of your Care Team can also limit escalation. Of course, your doctor should still address questions outside your Care Plan and can be kept up to date by your Care Planner.

Have questions about home care? Call us for a free, no-commitment assessment with our Care Planner!

Why Right at Home?

• Over 20 years of experience. Right at Home has been providing award winning customized senior care and home care for over 20 years.
• YOUR Caregivers are all part of YOUR Care Team. This means that there is no revolving door of Personal Support Workers and Nurses. With the help of your Care Planner, you choose and get to know them. This leads to an level of care for your loved one that is unsurpassed in our industry.
• Working with government support. Your Care Planner will work to help you find the government supports you are eligible for (if you would like them) and then work to find a solution for the care needs that go above what government and family can do. We will also work around the government care plan so that we are enhancing it.

We help in home, wherever home is to you.

Our Caregivers are always out in the community visiting homes, Retirement Residences, Long Term Care (LTC), hospices and hospitals.