This is a great idea. It’s a partnership between the Calgary Stroke Program and Home Care and it could really help with the bed shortage in the city. You get patients home sooner because rehab comes to them, in their home. Patients are not waiting in a hospital bed for the therapists to see them there. They can go home. It’s a win win don’t ya think?
Here’s the story.
Josef Juschka is recovering from a series of ministrokes. Today, he’s getting some rehabilitation at home – thanks to speech language pathologist Bon-Hi Moon and social worker Kristin Morgan.
Josef says this team approach means he’s improving everyday.
Moon for example, helps Josef to find his words.
She explains, “I’m in there doing a lot of drill work in terms of motor movement with his speech movements and trying to get him to say the right words that he wants to say in the correct way.”
Morgan helps Josef and his family find the resources he needs.
“So with Josef we’ve referred him to the CNIB – the Canadian National Institute for the Blind – so he can get the necessary instruments – magnifying glasses – that’ll help him see better and be more independent.”
It’s a pilot project designed to help stroke survivors as soon as they get home. It may even help them get out of the hospital quicker. That’s because all the rehab they need …occupational, physical and recreational therapy, speech and language therapy, even a social worker and a therapist assistant will all come to the survivor’s residence.
The pilot project began in January and will run to the end of the year. But, organizers hope to extend it, so the team can continue to help patients like Josef do simple things, like go to a restaurant.
Moon says “we’ve done outings to his favourite restaurant …trying to educate him to try and sit where it would be most ideal for him to communicate without having the noise bother him.”
She says it’s something she wouldn’t have discovered had she been treating Josef in the hospital. Morgan agrees. She explains, “someone is way more comfortable in their home and you’re giving them the skills to adapt to their environment.”
And Josef says, “it helps me very much.”