Care Options After Being Discharged, with Chris Strand

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

This is a special presentation of answers for elders with carriage and welcome back to answers for elder’s radio everyone. I am here with Chris Strand from carriage home help. She is a community liaison and Chris, I am so glad you’re here. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having me, Susanne. You know, one of the things I remember as a daughter way back when, when I started taking care of my mom, as there’s so many things I didn’t know about later life care. I was so like a deer in the headlights and I remember the days when my mom, when I first had to step in and take care of my mom and she had fallen and broken her pelvis, was in the hospital and then, of course they transferred her to a Rehab and and she was living in Antichortus at the time and they transferred her down to Lynnwood where I lived right and of course she was angry because she wanted to be back home. Well, they didn’t have the facilities there to do that and I was down here. So guess what, she had to come be with me. But here’s the thing that I really related to is I found such an amazing support network, with with discharge planners, with social workers, with different things like that. But what I didn’t know as a family member and what I think families need to know right now, is what happens after their release, because then it’s in their care, it’s their understanding. They need to be the eyes and the ears of watching their parents and making sure that they’re the best advocate for them. And so, Chris, I’m glad you’re here because you’re going to talk a little bit about, you know, what happens after, quote unquote, discharge. There’s different types of services available, and let’s talk about those. Well. Oftentimes people discharge from facility, a rehabacility or hospital with home health. Now, right, home health differs from home care, right and it differs from our patient services. Right now, if I can touch on that a little bit, home health is covered by our medicare benefit and are at private insurance benefit. And what does home health do? Home Health does physical therapy in the home. They do nursing intervention in the home. They can even go so far with bathing assistance for people who might be at risk of falling while doing their their dressing and grooming in the morning. Now, home care is different and that is a fee for service, where that pay m private pay, where people can form it. If it’s it could be paid by aiden attendance benefits, food veterans. Yes, it can be like that. Yes, and that’s hell up in the home, whether it’s for errands or housekeeping or meal preparation, very different from home health, right, which is rehabilitative therapy and or nursing intervention. Right. So, so just to stop, to go right there and the way I look at it, and and coming from a person that’s that’s been a family member, anything that involves the body, that’s medical, which has to do with help in walking the gate, the occupational therapy, making sure that they understand, you know, can reach and grab things like they normally can’t use to or speech, any sort of rehabilitative type care that is going to get better. That falls in the home health department and it is paid for by Medicare and or private insurance. Yes, correct, home care is assistance with activities of daily living. Are What we call a dls. That has to do with addressing, assistant grooming, bathing, meal preparation, Lighthouse keeping, you know, errands. Maybe they can’t drive anymore. Different things like that. So that falls under the home care companion care. Yes, I’m sure that there’s also some dementia assistance, memory care, a little bit in home care. Can can help with a lot of those types of companion care situations, medication, remindering to take your medication, things like that. And so that is paid for either by privately or through Medicaid, if they if the seniors qualified for that, or through aid in attendance, veterans benefits or some sort of a, you know. Is that correct? Yes, and people have bought into long term care insurance and that can cover private care case. Well, yes, not always. Yeah, but not always. oftentimes they have a qualifying what do you call that? Yeah, it’s it’s a qualifier right, and it really depends on the different type of long care, long term pair policy that you have. Again, it’s it’s vague. Some policies cover home care, some policies do not. Okay, so that’s really depends on the the different type of long term care. Yes, so let’s go from now those two that we’ve clarified. Let’s talk about outpatient care. Outpatient care is similar to home health, but it’s a little more limited. Outpatient Services has physical and occupational therapy, as does home help. Huh. But outpatient you have to drive to the service and it is an actual different benefit for Medicare. So your Medicare part be benefit as opposed to Medicare part A. and why it’s important to know that is there are limitations with Medicare part be right benefits, and so I having outpatient therapy under that benefit. There are caps per year, so it might be just two thousand dollars worth of therapy as opposed to unlimited outpatient services. Also, is where patients have to be driven to or drive to the service, right, and it is for therapy only if a loved one has therapy needs and nursing needs. That would be a patient appropriate for home health, as opposed to outpatient services and home health there is no limits, no annual limits or caps. Where outpatient it is oftentimes patients might be returning to their retirement home and in their retirement home there’s an outpatient gym or a clinic. Right now, it sounds logical to have your mom or dad go to that Jim to have services and it sounds convenient, but it’s a different benefit, different coverage. Sure, so we are talking to Chris Strand from carriage home health. Chris is a community liais on far the home health division year in King County and, as you know, you you work primarily in King County. Right now. We’re not primarily. This is where you do, but obviously every county has a license and of course carriage is soon to expand to Pierce County and to Thurston County, from what I understand. Is that correct? Yes, and soon snow much county as well. That will be great. That will be great. You know, one of the things that I learned as a as a daughter taking care of a mom is the fact that, you know, I had to learn to be, in many cases, the eyes and the years I was around her all the time and I remember there are certain things that I noticed about mom that that, you know, her care providers weren’t necessarily engaged because they’re dealing with too many people. Not that they didn’t do them an amazing job, but you know, I only had my mom to focus on. So a lot of times families will say, you know, well, the care providers should have noticed this. Well, you know, they do their very, very best and I have never met to this day anybody that is involved in this work that doesn’t have an incredible heart for seniors. But, you know, it’s really the family’s responsibility, in my opinion, to stay engaged and to really be concerned and and you know, like what we talked about so often, is that, you know, the best thing that you can be as a family member is, you know, the daughter or the sun and just be there, you know, to understand, make observations. You never know. One of the things that I used to do when I used to go to a medical appointment with my parent is, you know, I sit just take five minutes before the appointment and write down your thoughts, you know, and I used to just hand it to the doctor, you know, in in white envelope when we checked in, because that way might I didn’t have to get in the middle of the dialog. I tried to preserve that relationship between the doctor and the patient. But to have be that advocate, to be, you know, a proactive benefit that will help a medical professional help guide your family into, you know, your family member into maybe home health, which is so under utilized and it can prevent so many things from happening over the long term. It can gain you know, senior contained strength again to stay independent longer and maybe their homebound for a while, but it doesn’t mean that that home health won’t help them be more independent in the future. So there are social workers in in hospitals and Rehab facilities and even some doctors clinics who could be useful for you to just have a conversation with with your concerns and they can point you in the right direction of benefits or resources that can come into the home and help. He’s well. And that brings up an whole other thing. Is A care conference. Yes, if your loved one is getting ready to be discharged, it is so important to be active in that care conference, to spend the time to listen to the recommendations of the care providers. That says, you know, we’ve been working with DAD ON X Y Z and he’s not there yet. Okay, those are things that we as family members need to get in on and say, okay, how can I find the best resources or what can I do ask those questions. There is all kinds of resources available for families out here and to have a company like carriage home help. They will come in then and work with Dad. First of all, obviously if dad meets the criteria, you guys will meet with dad and discuss things. Of You know where are we at and how can we help, and that’s the key and it helps you as a family member. You know the family member needs to stay a family member. The last thing you want to do as a daughter or a son is to turn into the the dictator, right, and then there’s not going to work. There’s all right, I said, of family members who are quiet at a care conference. But if you express your concerns and your needs and your worries, then social work or will oftentimes speak up and then provide resources that you may be able to utilize at home well, and we help with these podcasts. Families will understand that they have a voice. I think a lot of times they don’t feel like they do, and I know I didn’t in the beginning, but I certainly do now. I know that how important that voice is and how important it is for families to you know, to speak up and to have that you know, that interaction. I guess it’s the word right. So you’re a great you vocalize well now and you’re an advocate for not just your own loved ones but but for others in the community, though. Being quiet at a care conference, being quiet and the Rehab facility and being discharge. That does not show any concern to the the clinical staff who then, if they knew you were concerned about something, they make that have discovered. They could have made recommendations for resources you could use at home. Wonderful. So, Chris, how do we reach you? We can be reached at our website, which is wwwccage helpcom. Thanks so much for being on the problems. Thank you, Sissy. This has been a special presentation of answers for elders with carriage or information for carriage. Go to carriagecom. That’s SAR agecom.