Mrs. Greinert
The Eldercare Challenge:
A medical emergency sets all wheels in motion for Mrs. Greinert. But her neighbors and friends can do only so much. Her family lives in a distant state, and nobody saw this coming.
Accountable Aging Answers With:
- Comprehensive, in-home medical care management.
- Support for health-related lifestyle changes.
Outcome:
Mrs. Greinert's potentially risky combination of medical advice and medications was fully reviewed and a system was put in place to avoid a recurrence of taking excess or incompatible medications. Her adjustment to unwelcome but necessary changes in lifestyle was made easier. And Doug knew his mother had caring, competent people who were alert to her changing needs.
This Family's Story:
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Doug Greinert received a voice mail message at his Chicago office from his mother's Austin neighbor telling him she had discovered his mother passed out on her bathroom floor. By the time Doug picked up the message to call his mom's neighbor, Mrs. Greinert had been treated as an outpatient at the hospital emergency room and was back in her home. Doug flew to Austin that night and stayed through the weekend. It had been several months since his last visit to Austin for Mrs. Greinert's birthday, at which time she had reported feeling fine and had looked strong and well. Since that visit, mother and son had talked on the phone every week; Mrs. Greinert had not mentioned any new health problems. However on this trip to his mother's home, Doug saw nine different bottles of medicine prescribed by four doctors.
What had Doug's mother not told him about her health, and what else didn't he know? He had no idea how was he going to, first, get the bottom of this in one weekend, and then take care of her from a distance of more than 1000 miles. Doug contacted Accountable Aging for immediate help with his mother. We quickly scheduled a home visit with Mrs. Greinert, accompanied by a geriatric nurse we selected specifically for Mrs. Greinert based on information we received from her son.
Within the first week, staff from Accountable Aging: Obtained medical background information and reviewed the medications. Contacted the four doctors (1) to ensure all four doctors know Mrs. Greinert is under treatment by all of them, and is taking prescribed medications from all of them and (2) to determine if any of the prescribed medications, singly or in combination, could have caused her to lose consciousness. Determined she should not drive until further review by her primary doctor, given the medications she is taking Set up an easy process for Mrs. Greinert to ensure she takes her medications exactly when and as prescribed.
Over the following week, Accountable Aging consulted with Mrs. Greinert and Doug to select a primary physician to be the gatekeeper for new treatments and medications. Because Mrs. Greinert could not safely drive a car while taking her current regime of medications, we hired a driver to take Mrs. Greinert on weekly errands and to her doctor appointments. Accountable Aging staff accompanied Mrs. Greinert to her doctor appointments and made notes on the doctor's findings, instructions and recommendations. One day following each appointment we delivered a copy of the office visit notes to Mrs. Greinert and emailed a copy to her son. Accountable Aging staff encouraged and assisted Mrs. Greinert to maintain an active life; for example, we contacted her church and arranged transportation to services and mid-week programs.