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Advanced age seniors who undergo surgery have a high chance of having significant short term memory impairment upon waking from surgery and for the weeks that follow. This is just one of the realities that family members and caregivers need to be aware of so that they can plan accordingly.
“It happened to my own 77-year-old father this year,” says Jennifer Bowhey, local owner of the two Visiting Angels offices in Virginia Beach. “He was a pretty healthy guy at 77. He woke from a relatively minor cardiac stent procedure and suddenly had no short-term memory.”
Although her father was told he went through surgery and that he should not get up from bed alone, he couldn’t remember and kept trying to get up. Nurses even had to call in security guards to stop him from doing so.
“If he’d had a plan in place for recovery care at home, he would have had a private caregiver in his hospital room sitting by his bed reminding him and assisting him with getting up if needed so he wouldn’t fall and injure himself,” Bowhey explains.
“The caregiver would have assisted with discharge plans because he had his own care,” she continues. “Instead, he was discharged to a rehabilitation center, and he didn’t understand any of it. My mom was so stressed out, she began looking for an adult family home or memory care residence.”
Her family isn’t unique. Most families come to a health-related crisis point at some time in their lives and, statistically speaking, the chances rise drastically every year after the age of 77. Bowhey understands better than anyone that having a concierge care plan in place would have made her mom’s experience much less stressful.
Types of Home Care and How They Are Paid For
In addition to recovery care like that described above, Visiting Angels does shorter visits for things like bathing help, companion care, dementia care, escorts to medical appointments, basic pet care and housework as well as medication reminders. This kind of care is most appropriately referred to as concierge care, which is distinct from home health. The two types of agencies, home health and Visiting Angels concierge care, often work together on the same cases.
As families explore options for supporting their loved ones at home, one of the most important things to learn is what is covered by medical insurance and what is not. Home healthcare is a form of care at home that is referred by a doctor and therefore typically covered by medical insurance. It is for things like post-surgical wound care at home or palliative disease care.
A home health nurse or caregiver visits for a short period of time to check in on patients throughout a route for the day filled with clients who need such visits. Medical insurance will often cover this. Visiting Angels is often mistermed “home health,” but it is licensed for “in-home non-medical supportive care.” Therefore, Visiting Angels cannot accept any medical insurance as they are non-medical.
For example, Visiting Angels Office receives calls from families who need a caregiver to stay overnight to assist someone with getting up to go to the bathroom. Even if suggested by a doctor, Visiting Angels can’t bill the client’s medical insurance, and it won’t normally pay for such care anyway. This is why Visiting Angels recommends putting a plan in place ahead of time and understanding estimated costs for any crisis.
Clients pay directly for care, which can be a surprise to some people. Visiting Angels of Virginia Beach is one the agencies approved for Veteran Care in Virginia Beach. Such benefits pay for care at no charge to the actual veterans. Clients also use Long Term Health Insurance plans to pay for nonmedical in-home care like Visiting Angels.
Visiting Angels allows clients to reserve a plan there and fill out the paperwork ahead of time to avoid stress when a trip to the hospital requires more help at home to get discharged.
For those seeking the kind of compassionate, non-medical support offered by Visiting Angels, understanding the line of work they do can help make informed decisions and plan in advance for a home care plan when you really need it.
