The experiences of our Live in Care Care Partnership Lead, Sue Coleman, on the first day a customer came home out of a care home into the care of a living in carer.
We are grateful to Mrs Blakey for agreeing that we may share her story.
Meet Joyce and read why she chose Live in Care
Joyce was moved into a care home nearby to her home but Joyce was not coping on her own there, she felt isolated and lonely surrounded by strangers coming and going. We had a call from Suzie her cleaner and part-time helper saying Joyce wanted to come back out of the care home as she was just being left in her chair and not cared for.
On the 4th February we went along to the care home to carry out an assessment , Mrs Blakey was in her chair , she seemed very confused , under weight and generally unhappy. Joyce said she wanted to go home. We carried out the assessment and gained all the information we needed to make a care plan for her that placed her needs in the centre of care. We had to then speak to Peter, a financial adviser for Joyce, who agreed that Live in Care would be better than a care home for her. We set up the care to start shortly after.
On the 10th February Gladys, the new Live in Carer and I drove over to Joyce’s address. We were met by Suzie who explained she had brought Joyce out of the care home with no wheelchair and only one pad, this was wet through and her belongings were all in a black rubbish bag. We made Joyce comfortable in her chair after cleaning and left her watching TV while Gladys the 24/7 carer and I went to the local shops, Gladys and I did a week’s shopping and brought some pad’s for Joyce.
We went back to the house and firstly made Joyce comfortable , we asked Joyce to stand and hold onto her frame while we cleaned her again and put a new pad on for her. While standing up she said to me she hadn’t stood up for four months while in the care home , I was blown away by this remark. We have now set up some gentle exercises for Joyce and the carer to do every day and her mobility and functional ability to engage in more activities of daily living is coming back to where she was before entering the care home. We are very positive that she will actually get even better than that too. She is engaged and wants to get going, inside the house and outside too, to see friends, go shopping and join in a local club.
Joyce is now able to walk a few steps to be able to take herself to the toilet, the rest of the time scoots along in her wheelchair. She is working on increasing this distance and she should do well. More than this though is a psychological change and a general improvement in her well-being. She feels in charge of her life again and a new fresh wind of life is waking up inside her. Care is no longer done to her but she is driving the care, at the center is her expressed needs, desires and wants that are responded to by her one to one carer.
Joyce is eating well drinking well and happy to be home, she has lots of visitor’s friends and neighbours. I have asked for Joyce to write a few words now she is home and settled. Below is Joyce’s statement.
“It’s so lovely to be home and to be cared for so well by Independent people live in care, quite happy with all aspects. Everything is wonderful” — J.W. Blakey
Sue Coleman, Care Partnership Lead
We hope you join us in wishing Joyce the very best for the future.
Please feel free to call us now for some advice, signposting or guidance. We hope we can help you too.