Chelsea shares how she helped her client get a new lease on life!
One of my clients came to me with a very unique situation. He was currently living with his sister and brother in his parent's home after his parents had passed. His sister worked long hours during the day and his brother worked long hours a night. My client had very little socialization and was starting to experience failure to thrive. His siblings did the best they could to meet his care needs however his sister was asleep at night to prepare herself for the next day and his brother would sleep during the day to prepare for his next night of work. My client spent most of his days in his chair watching TV, he had poor nutrition, and began to weaken due to lack of activity. It wasn’t until my client went to the hospital that I was introduced to this lovely family. The case manager was no longer recommending a home for him due to his care needs however he did not have the funds to pay for assisted living for long.
At this time my client was very deconditioned and was unable to walk. With weighing over 350 pounds it was hard for staff to lift him without his assistance. I knew right away that in order to get his strength back I needed to find a community that was small enough that he could participate in his independent care tasks and find a place that he could once again build relationships and meaning to his life. I knew that with peers around him it would motivate him to participate in his tasks again. It would give them a reason to go to the dining room therefore getting better nutrition.
We found the perfect place who was willing to let him age in place even after he was on Medicaid. It wasn’t long until my client was walking again with a walker, meeting up with new friends at mealtime, and confident in his abilities to care for himself. I think we take for granted how having people to relate to and have genuine conversations with can increase our quality of life including how we take care of ourselves. This was not an easy road for my client, but he never gave up and because of it I think he gets to start living again!
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