6 Ways to Help Seniors Transition Home from the Hospital

The moment you find out your loved one can come home from the hospital is fraught with joy and worry. Joy for a recovery strong enough to get out of the hospital, and worry about how the transition home from the hospital will go. Hiring a skilled in-home nursing care team can make this transition safer and easier, reducing the chances your loved one will have to go back to the hospital with a relapse. Just contact At Home Personal Care in Warrenton, Manassas and Fredericksburg for support: (703) 330-2323. And be sure to follow these crucial 6 steps to transitioning your loved one home from the hospital:

1. Examine the Discharge Papers

Carefully go through everything in the discharge papers, preferably taking notes of questions to ask the doctor before you leave the hospital. The following steps include some questions that may come up, but also be aware of any condition-specific issues you’ll want to discuss with the doctor to prepare for a successful transition.

2. Activities: OK, or Off-Limits?

Your loved one will probably still need quite a bit of rest after coming home from the hospital. Ask the doctor what their ideal activity level should be over the next few days and weeks, and get specifics on any activities they should avoid. Also ask if some in-home occupational therapy or physical therapy could help them recover more successfully, when the time is right.

3. Clarity about the Medications

Make sure to understand your loved one’s medications before leaving the hospital. Find out when they need to be taken and whether they should be taken with food, or at a different time from other medications to prevent adverse interactions. Ask about food interactions also—some medications and foods don’t go well together (like grapefruit and cholesterol medications). Having a skilled home health care nurse to help you through the medication maze can really help.

4. Understand any Dietary Restrictions

Food plays an important medicinal role in recovery, so ask the doctor about foods and beverages that can speed recovery and wellness. If you can’t be there to cook every day, a living assistance services team can provide both companionship and cooking help.

5. Medical Equipment at Home

If mobility and balance are issues after the hospital, or if there are any other medical instruments your loved one needs, discuss this with the doctor. They may need a walker, a wheelchair, adjustable bed, shower seat, grab rails, a nebulizer or other medical equipment. In some cases, the doctor can write a prescription to have it covered, or partially covered, by insurance.

6. Safety at Home

Again, if safe mobility is a concern, you may need to rearrange furniture, set up a bedroom on a ground floor or find other ways to make daily life easier and less risky for your loved one as they start to move around the house again.

If you’re worried about the transition from hospital to home, don’t go it alone. Contact At Home Personal Care about living assistance services, skilled nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other services at home that can prevent a future hospital stay: (703) 330-2323.