One out of four older adults falls at least once during the year, resulting in about three million emergency room visits. Your mom’s fallen and is hospitalized after fracturing her hip. She’s miserable, and you want to get her back home as soon as possible. How can you balance her safety with her displeasure at being in the hospital?
Arrange Her Home With Safety in Mind
If she had to undergo surgery, she will need to build strength in the hip over time. Her doctors will probably have her up and walking around the day after the surgery. Pain may increase for a couple of days. Until she’s feeling better and on her feet, a hospitalization is important.
Once she’s able to go home, pain management and exercises to strengthen her hip are essential. It’s going to take time before she’s moving up and down the stairs without feeling a strain. She may need you to set up a temporary bedroom on her main living level. Place it as close to a bathroom as you can.
Consider things that will make it easier for her to shower. Grab bars give her something to hold while getting in and out of the shower. A shower seat gives her a safe place to sit while bathing.
Your mom will need time to be fully mobile. Her doctors won’t want to send her home if the home isn’t safe. Talk to her doctor about your plans to heighten home safety and see if you’ve overlooked anything.
Make Sure She Does What Her Doctor Says
Your mom may have a stubborn streak, but that won’t always help her leave the hospital faster than she hopes. She needs to do what her doctor says. The key to going home involves her cooperating with her doctor.
She needs to work with the physical therapist and work on the exercises she’s given. She has to take pain medications responsibly. If she’s still in extreme pain, it’s not as likely that she’ll be sent home. Once her pain is managed and she’s mobile, discussions will move towards releasing her.
If your mom isn’t going home to an empty house, her doctor will likely let her go home. Have a family member stay with her while she heals. You should also look into having home health care visit her home for wound care, medication management, and physical therapy.
Talk to Her Doctors about Home Health Care Services
Home health care allows your mom to recuperate at home with nurses helping her with the medical aspects of her recovery. Arrange the home health care services her doctors recommend and ask the agency if there are any services you’re overlooking.
With home health care, you’re not taking on medical tasks you’re ill-prepared to handle. Your mom can heal in the comfort of her own bed and bathroom while she’s still supported by medical personnel for medications, wound care, and therapy sessions. Call to schedule the services she needs.
Sources:
https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-falls-prevention
If you are considering home health care in Ellicott City, MD, for a loved one, please contact the caring staff at Care at Home of Rockville. Call today: (301) 923-4707.
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