Caregivers in Rancho Bernardo Aren’t the Only Ones Visiting Seniors at Home

Caregivers in Rancho Bernardo regularly see the relief and joy that seniors experience when they are able to remain at home instead of moving to a nursing home. Statistics and common sense both agree that home is the safest, healthiest environment for most elderly folks, and with a little help, many families are able to keep their loved ones there. Today, some hospitals are experimenting with a program that follows in the footsteps of the in-home caregiving system: paramedic house calls.

Out-of-control ER Admissions

Emergency rooms around the country are severely overcrowded, and doctors know that a large percentage of ER visits could have been prevented fairly easily. Many seniors in the ER are there because they neglected a prescription, allowed an infection to progress too far, or didn’t recognize symptoms of an illness in its early stages. If someone with a trained eye had just seen these patients a few days or weeks earlier, they could have corrected the problem with a simple solution and avoided a trip to the hospital.

Checking Up at Home

A Minnesota hospital system is combatting the problem by pinpointing the seniors in its area that are most likely to make ER visits—those who have already been in the ER at least nine times in the past year. The hospital then sends paramedics to these seniors’ homes periodically to monitor vital signs, check for returning illnesses, and verify prescription routines. A few of these quick, low-cost house calls can keep a senior healthy and save thousands of dollars in hospital fees.

Paramedics and Caregivers in San Diego County: A Good Team

We are certainly thankful for the medical care that our hospitals provide, but we still want to stay out of them as much as possible! The trend toward staying at home instead of spending time in long-term care facilities and hospitals is a good one, and it is powered by programs like the Minnesota one as well as in-home caregivers. In San Diego, there’s truly no place like home.

Originally posted 2014-01-02 10:30:54.