Transitional Care: How Home Care Can Smooth the Shift from Hospital to Home

We all know how much better being at home is than being in the hospital after being sick or injured. Sleeping in your own bed, having your own shower, and just being in your own space. All of these can help with the healing process. However, going from being in the hospital to being at home taking care of yourself can be a big jump. Not having enough support during this time can result in a lengthier recovery, complications, and rehospitalisation. At Home Care Assistance, we know how valuable it is to have some extra care during this time to ensure your loved one recovers as quickly and as fully as possible. That is why we offer transitional care to support the move from the hospital to the home. The idea of transitional care is it is provided for as long as is needed to support the person through their recovery and the establishment of any new routines that are required.
The period post-discharge from the hospital can be a tricky one. During this time, there are often extra medications to remember to take, appointments to attend, and things that need to be done, such as rehabilitation exercises to get back on your feet. However, doing all of this and remembering everything, on top of all the usual care activities such as cleaning and cooking, while still not feeling well, can be overwhelming. This can result in poor self-care, medication mistakes, and a lack of adherence to appointments and rehabilitation. At best, this can slow down recovery; at worst, it can result in death. However, extra support during this time can help ensure recovery is as fast as possible, without extra complications.
At Home Care Assistance, our Care Professionals provide tailored one to one care for your loved one to help them transition from the hospital back to home. Every person’s needs are different, which is why it is important the service is tailored. The service can also be adjusted as your loved one recovers and needs less support. Medication support can be important during this time. Taking the right medications at the right times is crucial to recovery without complications. However, keeping track of what needs to be taken when can be a challenge. With home care, you can be assured that your loved one is taking their medications as prescribed.
It is also important to attend any required appointments. These might be appointments with doctors, allied health specialists, physiotherapists, or anyone else involved in your loved one’s care. Attending these appointments helps to keep your loved one on track for their recovery. A Care Professional can not only help keep track of what appointments are when, but also support your loved one to attend the appointments by helping them get there.
Getting moving safely after an illness or injury is often crucial to recovery. Moving around helps with blood flow, general health, and avoiding issues such as blood clots. However, moving around when unsteady on one’s feet can result in falls, causing significant setbacks in recovery. Having a Care Professional support your loved one to move around safely, as well as follow any doctor’s guidance on exercise or rehabilitation exercises can help get them back on the pathway to recovery.
Completing the tasks needed for self-care can also be a challenge after leaving the hospital. Cleaning, cooking and general self-care are all things a person may require support for temporarily. There may also be new routines or diets which need to be established on an ongoing basis – a Care Professional providing home care can help ensure that your loved one is cared for and new routines that are required get established.
Getting home from the hospital can also be a time of isolation. If it is hard to get out and about it is easy to get lonely being at home. Home care not only provides support in daily activities such as medications, cooking, and cleaning but also provides companionship. This can be just as important for recovery for a person as having their physical needs met.
Having home care for your loved one also means someone can keep an eye out in case any setbacks or complications do occur. Sometimes recovery is not a smooth pathway. However, noticing the signs that something is not quite right and acting early helps to minimise any backward steps and ensure help is sought early as needed.
Having the right support following hospitalisation for an illness or injury is crucial to recovering well and getting back to living as well as possible. Tailor-made one-to-one home care during this time can make all the difference to how your loved one recovers and what independence they regain. Providing this care for a loved one can shift the balance in your relationship and cause stress on the carer as well as their relationship with their loved one. Care Professionals from Home Care Assistance can help your loved one through this time with tailored care plans that can be modified as your loved one recovers.
Support at home from a specialist provider, such as Home Care Assistance, can bring enormous benefit and comfort to your quality of life while living independently at home. Home Care Assistance has viable solutions when it comes to supporting independent living. For more information, get in touch with a Home Care Assistance today.