Betty J. – A Scenario from Home Instead in Bryan/College Station
When Betty J.’s daughter first called Home Instead she was very worried about her mother’s ability to gain weight following hip replacement surgery. The daughter, Kathy, told us that her mother had been doing fine before the fall she took resulted in a broken left hip.
Betty had surgery at a local hospital and upon discharge was sent to rehab for 30 days. She worked with her therapist to regain her strength and flexibility but being away from her home had a negative impact on her recovery. When the medical team discharged her in June, her daughter Kathy immediately called Home Instead.
After assessing Betty’s needs, Home Instead created a Plan of Care that was designed to focus on Betty’s recent surgical procedure and her overall approach to healthy living. The Plan also called for Home Instead to provide transportation to follow up doctors’ visits, visits to PT, and outings designed to improve her mental outlook, too.
Her CAREGiver℠, Cynthia, also worked hard to help Betty by preparing nutritious meals and monitoring her medication usage.
Over the next three months, Betty and Cynthia developed a relationship that was based upon their mutual desire to see Betty become as self-sufficient as she was before her fall. Cynthia found that Betty really enjoyed eating lighter meals 4-5 times daily as opposed to substantial meals 3 times per day. She focused on preparing balanced meals loaded with flavor and not with fat. Cynthia had regular weigh-ins with Betty and her weight was documented in the client notes that Cynthia kept.
Within days, Betty’s decline in weight stopped and slowly but surely she began to add a few pounds to her frame – making her feel much better and making her clothes fit much better!
By the time that the first 90 days were behind them, Betty and Cynthia had become quite a team! They regularly took outings to the grocery store, the pharmacy, and once a week they had a nice lunch together. Cynthia was helping with things like laundry, general housekeeping, and exercises designed to help strengthen Betty in a variety of ways. They visited the Bush Library and even took in an Aggie Softball game!
While Betty’s strength and stamina improved, what she came to realize was the importance of the social interaction that now made each day worth looking forward to because she knew that Cynthia would be coming that day!
Even though this scenario is not based on an actual client story, it is indicative to the care and compassion that we strive to achieve for our clients. At Home Instead, we care about positive outcomes for our clients. We believe that relationships are every bit as important as tasks. We know that seniors demand and deserve great care that encompasses the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing of the client. That’s why we say that to us, it’s personal.
