When a loved one is in the process of recovering from a serious surgery or another debilitating illness, such as a stroke, important decisions must be made almost immediately.
“Most of the time it is a family member who chooses where their loved one will go following hospitalization,” said Richard Senelick, MD, a neurologist and medical director of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute of San Antonio. Senelick is the author of the book “Living with Stroke: A Guide for Patients and Their Families.” In the publication, Senelick presents the challenges of this decision-making process. He states, “Have one family member be the spokesperson, because if the insurance company or the case manager gets bombarded, they will turn you off.”
Usually the hospital’s case manager will initially make an appointment for the family to discuss where the patient needs to go to continue their recovery. This may include many options such as skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehab hospitals or centers.
“Living with Stroke” offers these facts to help patients’ families, dealing with a multitude of health issues, make a very necessary, wise decision:
1. Early stages of recovery should include modern day technology that has robotics offering more and better exercise repetitions.
2. Counselors should be available to deal with patient’s emotional issues.
3. Don’t make a decision to go any place with your loved one without first touring a facility completely. Senelick states that “The quality of rehabilitation care your loved one receives can make all the difference between successful recovery and unrealized potential.”
4. Ask for references from families who have used a certain facility you are interested in.
5. Finally, Senelick mentions studies showing that stroke survivors in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals were three times more likely to go home than those who went to skilled nursing locations. ***It is important that families understand that they do have a choice to choose the better of the two options.
The following are questions for the patient or caregiver to ask before making the final decision, hopefully, one of an inpatient rehab facility:
1. Does the facility have all of the following team members on site: physician, speech therapist (when needed), physical and occupational therapists, dietitian, counselor or psychologist, specialized rehab nurses, respiratory therapists (when needed), case managers, and access to necessary medical consultants available for the loved one?
2. Will a rehabilitation doctor see the patient? How often will the patient be seen?
3. In the case of a stroke disability, what percentage of the center’s stroke patients are discharged directly back to their homes?
4. Will a case manager help deal with the family and patient’s needs? This should include equipment and discharge plans.
