Why your clients need a care coordinator

I interviewed several people over the phone and then hired Harriet. When the nursing home told me they were ready to discharge my mother, I immediately called Harriet, who arrived at the facility the next morning. She first interviewed my mother, then the physical therapist who was taking care of my mother and finally reviewed the medical records. Next, she accompanied me to my mother’s condo, a comfortable two-bedroom-and-den unit in a high-rise building.

After thoroughly touring the apartment, she agreed that my mother could come home, but I first needed to:

• Install grab bars in the bathroom by the toilet. She provided a list of what to buy and where. 
• Eliminate scatter rugs in the bedroom.
• Remove the shutter doors to the kitchen.

She suggested starting with around-the-clock home care for the first month, and then we could reassess. Further, she recommended a specific home-health-care agency where the aides were going to nursing school. That was the best suggestion ever: The aides are bright, caring and, even more important, my mother loves them.

After three months in Baltimore dealing with this health crisis, I was finally able to return home to Florida.

After I left, Harriet checked on my mother on a regular basis for several months. Also, after a month, we were able to cut back on the home health care to seven hours a day. The bill dropped from $442 a day to $150. And we started using a medical alert system at night.

See also:

• Inside an LTC awareness campaign
• LTC benefits from the VA
• Closing in on better LTCI close rates