Posted by Matt Johnson on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 08:15 AM
Marty Davis woke up in the hospital again, but this time he knew something had to change. He had mismanaged his health for decades. His life, really.
For his entire adult life, Marty had abused drugs and alcohol to escape the difficult hand life dealt him. Unsure whether to carry on or self destruct, Marty had bottomed out. His aged mother and tired brother had bailed him out of more jams than he could remember. They had been his Dallas senior care givers. This time, something was different.
Cancer, he'd beaten. Diabetes, he'd managed to elude. But, now his liver was going to quit and Marty couldn't outrun it.
Challenge
As far as "you're gonna die unless" proclamations go, Marty's seemed mild: he'd die unless he took one live-saving pill every day. If he skipped a day - one day - he'd end up in critical condition.
The problem was, Marty skipped the pill. Again and again. He was what the ER docs call a "frequent flyer." He'd skip a pill and a few hours later call 911 in a sort of remorseful recoil.
Marty's mother and brother wanted to help, but decades of burden made them unable to help in person. Marty needed help every day, but couldn't afford assisted living. He couldn't afford and didn't need four hours of home care, like most senior care companies required.
In person encouragement to take his pill was the only help he needed.
Marty needed someone to come by every day to make sure he took his pill, but couldn't afford a traditional set up. Marty was stuck.
Solution
HealthBridge VP Courtney Layton met with Marty and his family to explore options. After listening to how critical the daily pill was and learning about the limited need beyond the pill, Courtney had an idea of how to help.
"We met Marty's need really quickly," Courtney said. "HealthBridge doesn't have an hourly minimum for care. It's easy to provide daily care and stay under budget, without a minimum."
A HealthBridge Certified Nursing Assistant visits Marty every day and watches him take his pill. While they're at his house, they help Marty with other tasks too. They're usually there for about an hour, which is plenty of time to ensure Marty's health and safety.
Marty can get a year's worth of daily HealthBridge care for the price of a month's rent at a fancy assisted living.
Result
Since HealthBridge CNAs have been helping Marty, he hasn't missed a single pill. He hasn't been admitted to the hospital. His mother and brother have been able to enjoy spending time with him.
Marty gets the care he needs to stay alive, without breaking his budget, because HealthBridge has no hourly minimum.
To protect his identity, Marty asked that we use a pseudonym.
Posted by Matt Johnson on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 @ 10:10 AM
Mrs. Cardoni had taken care of her husband for years. As his Parkinson’s and Dementia progressed, caring for him became more difficult, but she persisted. After Mr. Cardoni was released from a hospital stay, Mrs. Cardoni’s children encouraged her to allow HealthBridge to provide
post-hospital care for her husband and she begrudgingly accepted.
Mrs. Cardoni was more than pleased with the caregivers, but she was eager to be back as her husband’s sole and primary caregiver. After a few weeks of carefully measured and managed care, the family and HealthBridge scaled back care to intermittent visits. Although this left Mrs. Cardoni alone to care for her husband, she was happy to be back in charge as his primary caregiver.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Cardoni was getting weaker and the stresses of caregiving were taking a toll on her. Still, she refused additional care, until finally she reached her breaking point. Mrs. Cardoni was, herself, hospitalized for a variety of reasons, all of which were caused by the exertions of caregiving.
Challenge
Even after being released from her own hospital stay, Mrs. Cardoni insisted on being her husband’s primary caregiver. Her family knew that if she continued, Mrs. Cardoni’s health would quickly deteriorate and Mr. Cardoni’s
Parkinson’s and
Dementia would go largely unchecked.
How would the family ensure their parents received the care they both needed, without upsetting their mother?
Solution
The Cardoni family called a meeting with HealthBridge Vice President Courtney Layton to search for solutions. The real problem, they discovered, was Mrs. Cardoni felt disenfranchised when the caregivers were there. In her mind, they were replacing her in the role she most treasured. Caring for her husband was how she expressed her love for him, since his mind was growing distant due to dementia. Any solution would need to ensure that Mrs. Cardoni still made a positive contribution to his care.
Together the Cardonis and Courtney devised a plan that carefully moved Mrs. Cardoni from the role of caregiver to the role of care manager. She interviewed a group of HealthBridge’s finest caregivers and selected the four that most impressed her. She worked extensively with Courtney to create the plan of care and poured her experience into the work. As care began, Mrs. Cardoni supervised and directed the caregivers, ensuring that her husband still received her personal touch.
Result
As it turns out, Mrs. Cardoni is a wonderful care manager! She supervises her husband’s care and ensures that his needs are met with the care and thoughtfulness that she, herself, would provide. What’s more, she is no longer in danger of creating her own health problems because of the physical stresses of caregiving. Her family sleeps easier at night with the peace of mind that both of their parents are well cared for. Best of all, Mr. Cardoni’s care has never been better – it’s delivered by professional caregivers and managed by his loving wife.
By working with the family to understand their parents’ true needs and worries, HealthBridge and the Cardoni family were able to create a plan of care that made both their parents healthy and independent at home.
Mr. & Mrs. Cardoni asked that use pseudonyms.
Posted by Courtney Layton on Fri, Sep 04, 2009 @ 11:39 AM
In his long time war against diabetes, Mr. Tanner has successfully persevered for many years. Unfortunately, he lost a recent battle which led to a leg amputation, leaving him in a wheelchair. Mr. Tanner now requires daily assistance to help with bathing and dressing, preparing meals, running errands, and maintaining his Richardson home. Because of his diabetes, Mr. Tanner also goes to day-long dialysis appointments three days a week.
Although Mr. Tanner saved wisely and planned for retirement, his diabetes expenses have consumed much of his savings. Fortunately, Mr. Tanner purchased a long-term care insurance policy several years ago, which will pay $100 per day for in-home care.
CHALLENGE
Mr. Tanner's complex needs and busy care schedule stretch from morning to night every day. Whereas the simplest solution may be to place a caregiver with Mr. Tanner all the time, his long term care insurance wouldn't cover the cost. We know Mr. Tanner couldn't go a day without care without risking a fall or unplanned hospital visit.
How could we ensure all Mr. Tanner's needs are met without exceeding his long term care budget?
SOLUTION
During our admission meeting with Mr. Tanner, we listened to his needs and concluded that creative plan of care was in order. Instead of arranging an all day plan, we combined hourly home care with task-based visits to stay within his $100 daily limit.
On dialysis days, we use a long morning visit to bathe, groom and dress Mr. Tanner, prepare his breakfast, complete housekeeping tasks, and drop him off at his dialysis appointment. We then pick him up five hours later, take him home, and prepare dinner before we finish for the day.
On days Mr. Tanner doesn't have dialysis, we provide care for five straight hours to assist with daily grooming activities, longer household tasks, run various errands, and prepare three nutritious meals. We are also able to focus on exercise and physical therapy activities, which contribute to Mr. Tanner's overall health and wellness.
RESULT
Instead of focusing on fixed periods of time, we focused on Mr. Tanner's desired outcomes for care. By combining hourly care and shorter visits to accomplish a specific set of daily tasks, we were able to deliver home care within Mr. Tanner's long-term care insurance budget.
To protect his privacy, "Mr. Tanner" asked that we use a pseudonym.
Posted by Courtney Layton on Fri, Aug 21, 2009 @ 11:44 AM
Betty's care needs changed drastically in a matter of days. When
HealthBridge VP Courtney Layton met Eighty-three year old Betty, she had just been
discharged from the hospital after surgery resulting from a fall at home.
Betty's entire family support system was one person: Janet. Janet was working 40+ hours a week to make ends meet and found herself solely responsible for her mother's care. Betty did not have long-term care insurance, so she was working with a fixed income to meet her current financial obligations. Betty and Janet needed help.
How would Janet ensure Betty was safe at home, especially since she had just fallen? While working full time, how would Janet get her mom to and from doctor's appointments? Would Betty and Janet be able to afford the care Betty needed?
Challenge
As Courtney began to work with Betty and Janet, she quickly realized there were three problems to solve:
- 1. The short-term challenge of post-hospital care
- 2. The mid-term challenge of follow up doctors' appointments
- 3. The ongoing challenge of elder care on a tight budget
Solution
After Courtney's initial meeting with Janet and Betty, HealthBridge caregivers immediately began providing support 24 hours a day. This insured Betty's safety during the critical time period after her hospital discharge.
As Betty's follow up doctor appointments began, HealthBridge provided caregivers to drive her to the doctor. Janet would then meet her mom at the doctor's office to be there for the important conversations. This reduced Janet's time away from her job to only one hour per doctor appointment.
Betty's physical condition quickly improved, so HealthBridge trimmed the care plan to provide daily support without a huge expense. This gave Betty the ability to move into a senior apartment community, so she could combine additional support (meals, security, community) with HealthBridge's caregivers who aided with bathing, grooming, dressing and medication reminders. This plan gave Janet the peace of mind that her mother was well taken care of each day, without the expense of around-the-clock care.
Result
Janet is able to remain the leader of Betty's daily care team, without neglecting her work and other personal obligations. With HealthBridge, Janet has a go-to resource whenever her mom needs extra help. Still today, each time Betty is scheduled for a doctor visit, a HealthBridge caregiver spends a few hours with her bathing, grooming, dressing and transporting her to and from the doctor's office. This care plan also preserves Betty's finances and limits Janet's financial contribution to her mother's care.
By addressing Betty and Janet's short, mid and long term challenges in an organized way, HealthBridge was able to solve each problem successfully. Janet called on HealthBridge to help in a crisis and ended up establishing a long-term support system to ensure her mom maintains an independent, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.
To protect their privacy, "Betty" and "Janet" asked that we use pseudonyms.
Posted by Erin Wade on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 @ 05:23 PM
Bill Lindley, a technology manager with a working wife and two busy, teen-aged daughters, recognizes the stress and challenge associated with caring for an elderly parent. For the past twenty-five years, his mother, Marjoria, had lived a seemingly self-sufficient and fulfilling life, remarrying after the death of her first husband and traveling together across the country.
As the result of her failing health in early 2008, the family decided to move her to the Dallas area to provide a more “hands on” approach for her basic supervision. In order to help eighty years young Marjoria with her day-to-day activities in her apartment, Bill decided to hire a home healthcare provider. Throughout this process, Bill followed his natural tendency and asked himself, “what is the cheapest home healthcare solution?” He performed a quick internet search, located a home healthcare agency with individually contracted caregivers, performed a quick interview, and made the hire. Problem solved – right? Wrong.
Challenge
Unfortunately, mid-year, Marjoria experienced a severe heart attack and was in hospital care and rehabilitation treatment for over two months, instigating Bill to reevaluate her living situation. Due to her need of additional, personal care, he began researching assisted living and nursing home facilities. Throughout this process, however, Bill discovered two critical barriers for entry: high cost and intense isolation from loved ones.
Bill explains, “My mom is on a fixed income, so we definitely needed a cost effective solution for our family. Personal interaction was an essential criterion in our decision-making. We weren’t just looking for a warm body ‘hanging out’ in my mother’s room; I wanted someone interacting with, caring for, and loving my mom.”
After extensive evaluation, he instead decided to move his mother into his home and turned again to the individual caregiver he had used previously for home healthcare assistance. This decision became a single point of failure as issue after issue cropped up with the caregiver, resulting in worker unreliability and undependability. To add insult to injury, the caregiver quit via text message with no notice, leaving Bill and his family little reaction time and huge issues in care for his mother.
“Due to our disappointing experience, I began a new search for a home healthcare agency, requiring optimized caregivers who were screened, trained, personable, and dependable as well as extremely reliable and flexible in coverage. I needed a best in class home healthcare business,” explains Bill.
Solution
While surfing the Internet, Bill discovered the HealthBridge website, agreed with their fundamental philosophies, and made an appointment. After speaking with HealthBridge, Bill felt an immediate match in philosophies, ended his search, and hired them on the spot.
HealthBridge currently provides in-home care three days a week for the Lindley family, helping with Marjoria’s day-to-day activities, including bathing and dressing, medication assistance, meal preparation, driving to doctors’ appointments, and some light household duties.
Result
“Kim, our personal caregiver, is an absolute angel. She has gone above and beyond our wildest expectations.” Bill continues, “It’s obvious she is much more than just a caregiver in our home. She loves and adores my mom, and she showers my mom with fantastic care. Even our dog, Mitzy, waits by the door for her to arrive. We have completely embraced her as part of our family.”
Courtney Layton, Vice President, HealthBridge, expounds, “It is the compassion and dedication of our caregivers that makes us truly unique. We take great pride in the hiring of sincere, honest, nurturing people, and we make it our highest priority. They are the lifeblood of our company.”
Bill adds, “HealthBridge has been extremely flexible in their ability to accommodate our needs, even in a short-notice timeframe. Kim has been so spectacular to even rearrange her schedule in order to care for my mom. If she is not available for some reason, HealthBridge has a multitude of trained caregivers to fill the gap for us.”
“HealthBridge delivers a niche model of healthcare, offering professional, affordable expertise through their multitude of caregivers in the home, creating a significant advantage over individual coverage,” offers Bill. “It allows us the best of both worlds… that is, experiencing a closer relationship with my mom and she with her grandchildren while receiving professional experienced care from someone who knows best.”
He continues, “We are thrilled with our arrangement with HealthBridge and Kim, and as such, I envision this arrangement carrying on for the foreseeable future.”
Their future is bright with HealthBridge.
Written by Carolyn Cameron
Posted by Erin Wade on Tue, Jul 21, 2009 @ 04:58 PM
Cam Willis and her
eighty-two-year-old mother, Abbie, had planned a fun weekend road trip
together to Shreveport. When Cam arrived that morning to pick up her
mother for the drive, she immediately noticed her mother’s unusual
behavior. Abbie was disoriented, erratic, and unable to complete her
packing her luggage. Assuming that her mother was just having a bad
morning, Cam finished the task for her, and they headed out on the open
road.
Throughout the weekend trip, Cam observed Abbie’s disrupted sleeping
habits, disorientation, and lethargy, and at that point Cam started
having warning bells go off in her head as this behavior seemed out of
sorts for her. When the weekend trip was coming to a close, and Cam
brought Abbie back home, the unthinkable happened: Abbie fell in her
bathroom, was immediately taken to the hospital by ambulance, and then
diagnosed with four fractured ribs. In addition, Cam was informed that
her mother would need rehab to rebuild her strength and was having the
beginnings of short term memory loss, which would only continue to
increase in the future. Although Abbie and Cam had begun to consider
the idea of a retirement home for Abbie, her mother’s fall and
additional prognosis accelerated the process significantly, and Cam
began making plans to relocate her mother that very day.
Challenge
“As an only child, I had no siblings or family in town, and I had
not married. While my mom was in the regular and then rehab hospitals,
I was still trying to work full time, checking in on my mom, collecting
mail from her apartment, investigating retirement centers, arranging
for her upcoming move, and still trying to run my own personal life.”
Cam explains “Basically, I was managing two lives by myself, and I
realized I needed help!”
Solution
At the recommendation of a nurse, Cam contacted HealthBridge, and that very morning, Matt Johnson and Courtney Layton, Vice President, HealthBridge,
came out to visit with them. In the midst of the confusing, changing
circumstances, Matt and Courtney took the time to completely understand
the situation and recommend a personalized solution to provide the best
care for Abbie while relieving Cam of immense stress.
Cam explained “I realized that the more nervous my mom was becoming
by her changing circumstances, the more I was reacting to these
changes. My mom wasn’t acting like my mom, and it really threw me.”
She continues “Initially, HealthBridge
proposed round the clock, twenty-four hour care of my mom, delivering
someone to assist my mom that first night. In addition, Courtney even
helped me navigate through the maze of healthcare insurance coverage, allowing me to better understand what was covered and what wasn’t.”
HealthBridge
continued to assist Cam with the day to day living and care for Abbie,
including helping her shower, dress and providing overall personal care
in addition to helping with meals, light housekeeping, and driving to
appointments. All the while, Cam was able to effectively and
efficiently coordinate and manage her mother’s move to a retirement
home, knowing her mother was in capable hands.
Three months later, Abbie’s doctor
recommended that Cam relocate her mother to an assisted living center
due to Abbie’s additional memory loss and need of more ongoing care.
Feeling the stress mounting, Cam recognized she had another move to
coordinate and implement on her mother’s behalf, and HealthBridge was there to help with Abbie’s care. Once Abbie settled in her new assisted living residence, Cam has continued to utilize HealthBridge more on a case by case basis for periodic morning grooming, errands, and transportation to and from doctors’ appointments.
Result
“Over the past six months, I have worked with numerous HealthBridge
personal care attendants in a variety of capacities and spoken with
Matt and Courtney countless times. They were extremely professional and
sensitive to our needs, have always been in the loop on my mother’s
care, and consistently went the extra mile” explains Cam.
Simply put, HealthBridge delivered personal relationships and peace of mind.
“I feel like they genuinely care for me and my family, and I have made some new great friends. It’s neat to know that HealthBridge
is there when I need them,” Cam expresses. “I’m not sure what the next
stage will be in regards to care for my mother, but I do know that I
can count on HealthBridge to walk with me, step by step.”
Written by Carolyn Cameron