When is it Time to Find Help?...Hospitalization.
When hospitalization imposes unexpected care responsibilities, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. You need to make tough decisions but you barely have time to think. Here are some tips to help guide you through hospital stays and discharge.
- Use the hospitalization time to decide your plan of action for after discharge.
- Get a clear understanding of whether your care recipient may be able to return to their own home or may require a nursing home stay for short-term rehab. (Sometimes, the hospital will have a rehab facility on premises, but it is considered separate from the hospital.)
- Talk with your family's social worker at the hospital, in order to discuss the hospital's discharge plan as soon as possible.
- If your family member is returning home, the hospital social worker can help you to identify community supports to ensure that your family member is safe and well cared for.
- If your family member can't return home (for whatever reason), talk to the social worker about other residential settings such as assisted living or nursing homes.
- Talk with friends, neighbors, and other supports in your family member's neighborhood, and ask them for help. This may include stopping in every day for a few minutes, making a friendly phone call, etc.
- Get the benefit of past expereicne by speaking with all the people providing care to your family member in the hospital. Talk with the doctor, and be sure to talk with the nurses, the personal care aides, and therapists, if appropriate. Talk with anyone involved, and get their thoughts about what will happen after your family member leaves the hospital.