How Do Caregivers Prevent Hospital Readmissions?

Infection, failure to follow instructions, and falls are leading reasons for hospital readmissions. If your mom fell and was hospitalized or is recovering following surgery, it’s important to keep her from having to return to the hospital. She’ll heal better at home.

How do you keep your mom from being readmitted? Hire caregivers to help her during her recovery. Caregivers can prevent readmission for several reasons.

Help Following Medical Instructions

After a fall, your mom may be told to take it easy. If she’s in a cast, she may need to keep it clean and dry. Caregivers can help her wrap a bag around her cast before a shower. They can help her wash her hair while showering so that her cast stays out of the water.

If she’s on pain relievers or antibiotics, caregivers help her remember when it’s time to take the next dose. She won’t take them too often and risk an overdose or take them too far apart to be helpful.

Caregivers can make sure your mom follows any exercise plans. If your mom has had hip surgery and is supposed to walk for 10 minutes every couple of hours, caregivers can support her and make sure she gets them done on time.

Transportation to Follow-Up Care

Days or weeks after a hospitalization, your mom will need to go back for check-ups. Caregivers can give her rides to the medical practice, escort her into the building, and wait for her to be seen. After that, she has the caregiver to drive her to a store or pharmacy if needed before taking her back home.

Assistance With Housework

Your mom’s back home and she’s trying to do too much. She’s insisting that she needs to do the laundry, vacuum, and wash dishes. Caregivers can do all of her cleaning chores and get her the things she needs to relax and let her body heal.

Meals and Snacks

Eating properly and getting enough fluids is important. She can have caregivers make her all three meals, provide the snacks she wants, and ensure she has plenty of water, milk, tea, and juice to drink.

If she has any dietary requirements, her caregiver can make sure she’s supported with suitable meals. For example, if she had oral surgery and needs soft meals for a few days, her caregivers can make soups and soft meals like mashed potatoes and yogurt. She’ll have all the help she needs and a companion to remind her to take it easy.

Caregivers are easily arranged by making a call. Talk to a representative about your mom’s hospital instructions and the ways caregivers will help the most at home.