|
At Lee Memorial Health
System, we are a very strong supporter of patient- and
family-centered care.
We know that it is just as important to help friends and family
members understand a patient’s health concerns as it is to
ensure that the patient understands. This provides peace of mind
for everyone involved and helps prepare a patient’s loved ones,
who will very likely become the caregivers of the patient.
Being a caregiver to someone—especially someone you love—is a
huge responsibility. I speak from personal experience. As some
of you may recall in my column from last week, I referred to my
mother and myself as “professional caregivers.” My father had
many health issues throughout his lifetime, and my mother and I
spent hundreds of hours taking him to doctor’s appointments,
staying with him in the hospital and caring for him at home.
Our health system provides many opportunities to involve friends
and family members in a patient’s care, such as inviting loved
ones to participate when our multi-disciplinary teams make their
daily rounds in our Intensive Care Units. Our All-Star Total
Joint Center also encourages patients to have a friend or family
member present during group physical therapy.
We provide many opportunities for caregivers to receive care, as
well. Our Regional Cancer Center makes many of its programs and
support groups available to friends and family members of
patients, and our Older Adult Services department co-sponsors a
“Smell the Roses” event each year to provide relaxation and
rejuvenation opportunities for those caring for loved ones. Our
health system also has support groups for caregivers.
Our ALS Clinic is another program that focuses heavily on the
involvement of loved ones. ALS, which is also called amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a degenerative
disease of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord that control
voluntary muscle movement. The disease eventually causes a
person to be unable to perform routine tasks, such as getting up
from a chair or brushing one’s teeth. That means patients come
to depend very heavily on their caregivers.
The ALS Clinic at the Outpatient Center at Plantation provides
neurologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, a
respiratory therapist, a nutritionist, a speech pathologist and
social services for patients, as well as support for caregivers.
And it is making a huge difference for patients and families.
Here is an excerpt from an e-mail sent to the Florida Chapter of
The ALS Association, regarding our ALS Clinic:
First God bless you all!!
My wife and I are local caretakers for [a patient] diagnosed
with ALS in January 2010…We were all totally incapable of an
intelligent response until Christine Bright, the local ALS Group
Representative, met with us. With her help we got to the right
people locally as well as gained invaluable information about
the disease. All this led to the finest medical experience we
have had in our life in the USA when we attended [our friend’s]
first ALS Clinic in Fort Myers. This is real health care, and
patient-focused.
The husband and wife who wrote the e-mail signed it “Forever
grateful.”
What more could you ask for?
For more information about Lee Memorial Health System’s
services,
click here.
Peace,
Jim Nathan
President, Lee Memorial Health System
|
