Vanessa’s mom, Liz, just had her knee replaced. Vanessa is staying with her for a few days to help make sure she takes her medications on time, does her Physical Therapy exercises, and complies with all the other instructions that will help her get back on her feet quickly.

Liz is lucky that Vanessa is a trained medical provider and is able to take time off of work to care for her. Because of the COVID pandemic, this situation has become more common. The Hospital at Home program was developed in 2020 to allow people who are sick but stable to receive hospital-level care in their own homes. This article describes the program and notes how it affects family caregivers. Hospital at Home is still new and the rules and guidelines are unclear, so family members need to ask lots of questions.

Colorado has several Hospital at Home programs. UC Health was an early adopter, as this article from early 2020 shows. This article from later in 2020 describes the challenges faced by the program during start-up and explains a bit about who should and should not consider it.

If you have a common chronic condition, Hospital at Home might be a good option for you. Obviously, surgery must be done elsewhere. However, as Liz’s situation shows, recovery and rehab can be conducted successfully at home in certain situations. If you have a family member or a Home Care team in the house, that process can be much smoother.

Assisting Hands strives to be a resource to help our clients and their families navigate the Senior Care world. We don’t have all the answers, but we constantly use our community connections to assist our clients to get as much care as they need. We provide quality Home Care, and we can help find great providers of other services such as Palliative Care, Hospice, Assisted Living, and even legal and financial planning services. Please call us if you have any questions! 720-780-7755