CASE STUDY: TAKING THE STAIRS

SUMMARY

Client A suffers from Parkinson’s Disease
Struggled with mobility after returning from hospital
Our lifestyle plan helped client regain motor skills

Client A is in his late 70′s and has always prided himself on being independent. As a journalist for most of his career, he was used to a fast-paced lifestyle that kept him on the go. When Home Care Assistance was asked to care for Client A by his concerned family, he was suffering from the challenging symptoms of mid-to-late stage Parkinson’s. A sudden trip to the emergency room for heart failure only made his Parkinson’s worse. To help his transition back home from the hospital, the Home Care Assistance Director of Nursing met with Client A’s wife, family, case managers, and social workers. Working with Client A’s close family, Home Care Assistance supervised the retrofitting of their own home and the installation of an electric stair lift to help with mobility. Seeing how his health had deteriorated during his hospital stay, Home Care Assistance was determined to give Client A some of his independence back. Settling him into his new home, the Director of Nursing developed an intensive program of diet and exercise, and, most importantly, a plan to help Client A get his life back, all based up on the unique Balanced Care Method of holistic care. Every day, when Client A would make a request for assistance with a movement related task, the aide would respectfully urge Client A to try to do it on his own. Gradually, with close supervision and help from the aide, Client A had a major victory: he did the laundry himself, and then, to delight and surprise his wife, did hers, too. It was a moment of joy for the entire household, as he began to regain some of his independence once again. Eventually, the wheelchair sat, unused, in the corner, while Client A walked confidently with his walker. When the Home Care Assistance Director of Nursing visited Client A’s home after the record snowfall of this past winter, she asked how his electric stair lift had survived the cold. He replied, confidently, that he didn’t know because he never used it. Indeed, he explained, the stair lift was no longer needed now that he could walk up and down stairs on his own. If not for Home Care Assistance, he said, he would still be in the wheelchair that now sat in the corner.

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.