From care home to live-in care. Read why Joyce chose live-in care.
Joyce was already in a care home when her friend contacted us. However she was not coping very well on her own there, she felt isolated and lonely surrounded by strangers coming and going. Her friend Suzie was really concerned as she was just being left in her chair and not being cared for and Joyce was becoming more and more withdrawn.
We had a call from Suzie saying Joyce wanted to come back out of the care home and could we help bring her home. So, we went to see Joyce in her care home to talk to her. When we got to the care home, Joyce was in her chair, she seemed very confused , under weight and generally unhappy. Joyce said she wanted to go home. We told her all about how our service worked for her that placed her in the centre of control of her care including the type of Live-in care she would like. We then spoke to Peter, Joyce’s financial adviser for Joyce and agreed that Live in care would be better than a care home for her. We then proceed to set up the carer to start with her shortly after.
Introducing her live-in carer
Only 6 days later, we drove over to Joyce’s home address. We were met by her friend Suzie who explained she had brought Joyce out of the care home with no wheelchair and only one pad, this was wet through and her belongings were all in a black rubbish bag. We introduced Gladys, her new live-in carer to Joyce and then made Joyce comfortable in her chair.
Whilst standing up with her new carer she said to me she hadn’t stood up for four months while in the care home – we were blown away by this remark. We have now signposted some gentle exercises for Joyce and the carer to do every day. Her mobility and functional ability to engage in more activities of daily living is coming back to where she was before entering the care home. We are very positive that she will actually get even better than that too. She is now engaged and wants to get going, inside the house and outside too, to see friends, go shopping and join in a local club.
Joyce is now able to walk a few steps to be able to take herself to the toilet, the rest of the time she scoots along in her wheelchair. She is working on increasing this distance and she should do well. More than this though is a psychological change and a general improvement in her well-being. She feels in charge of her life again and a new fresh wind of life is waking up inside her. Care is no longer done to her but she is driving the care, at the centre is her expressed needs, desires and wants that are responded to by Gladys, her one to one carer.
Joyce is eating well drinking well and happy to be home, she has lots of visitor’s friends and neighbours. I have asked for Joyce to write a few words now she is home and settled. Below is Joyce’s statement …
“It’s so lovely to be home and to be cared for so well by my live in carer, quite happy with all aspects. Everything is wonderful…so much better than being in a care home”
