Home Health Missed Visit Note: Fill & Download for Free

When a loved one suffers from chronic depression and you are living far away, your first step is to help her connect with a good therapist and discuss with her MD, with you in the room or in the waiting room, but close by. Depression is a terrible condition which unfortunately does not improve on its own and tends to worsen with time, as the brain gradually changes and organizes around the condition.You need to ensure that she can access an expert, schedule regular visits with the expert and keep informed of missed visits or drastic change with respect to her health, using simple communication with the expert such as a note if she misses her appointment or if she needs to have someone with her for a time.Depression is not a condition that can be reasoned out, it is a constant feeling of sadness, lack of motivation to do even preferred activities, constant fatigue. Organize your visits to make it a break from daily demands, take over the care for the home, fill her pantry with snacks she can eat without having to cook or shop.Evaluate the support system around her: has she caring neighbours, friends, group who can pay short visits and help her with necessary tasks, personal care, take her to the hair stylist or to a yoga, swimming or church group activities.Give her a schedule of your phone calls, which you can paste on her fridge door to visualize those positive events. Send her paper mail, small packages which are always a pleasant surprise. You do not need to spend large amounts of money on those care packages, the simple fact that you make the effort to pack something and ship it is a nice reminder of your care.Do not give her advice, be simply caring and loving and allow her to be independent.

Is it morally wrong to not visit a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer's in a nursing home? What is the point of visiting if they don't remember you, or won't remember you ever visited?When I was visiting my elderly mom, almost daily, in a nursing home for three years, I noticed a man who had dinner with his wife every night after work at the DPW.His wife, in her sixties, was blind, bedridden, and underwent dialysis treatments. The EMTs bundled her up and took her away by ambulance to the medical facility three times a week.He never missed his “date” with his wife.Once, I was at lunch with my mom and went over to talk to the wife. Her affect was negative and I couldn’t get a conversation going. I thought, maybe this is what she’s like with her husband too, but I didn’t really know.I chatted with “Ed” on occasion, as we were regulars there. One day, I shook my head in sympathy and said, “When it comes to health, “Ruth” got the short end of the stick.” He agreed, as I observed the little dark cloud passing over his expression.Another woman, “Betsy,” visited her elderly mom after work everyday too. She was a dental hygienist and brushed, flossed, and stimulated her mother’s gums daily. Her mom pretty much had no idea what was going on. “Joan” died within a year, but her teeth were healthy. I understand, however, that the attention by loving and repetitive human touch (same as gently brushing hair) is soothing and calming.These are just two examples of simple heroism that I saw at the nursing home. Most of the time, the residents were alone. Sadly, the people who visit are considered “heroes” because there are very few who do so on a regular basis, as I personally observed.Those who cannot or choose not to visit for whatever reason—and understand that this is not intended as judgment—please know that the regular visitors invariably pay attention to and form relationships with the other residents as well, perhaps with your own family member, unbeknownst to you. It’s an occurrence in nursing homes for those residents who are able to spend time in common areas.This reminds me of when my son, as a college student, visited his elderly grandmother (my dear mother-in-law) regularly in the nursing home many years ago. She had a roommate, “”Elsa,” who had been regional President of Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization that supports medical facilities, most famously Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.Elsa listened to opera and concerts all the time on her FM radio. An intelligent, thoughtful conversationalist, we spent many afternoons discussing current events, issues of the day, questions of morality and religion. She was bedridden, but though physically debilitated and in constant pain, her mind was clear and her presence was strong.We never saw her family there; they lived in another part of the state. When my son left for school in Israel, he corresponded with Elsa. He was very fond of her. She pinned his picture postcards and letters to her bulletin board.She kept an eye on my mother-in-law who was a decade older. When she passed, Elsa requested that the staff leave her in the room for a while longer so that she could say her private goodbye. We continued to visit Elsa, our interesting, dynamic, outspoken, warm-hearted friend. We all adored her.After she died, I sent a donation to her organization and asked them to send an acknowledgment to the family. Eventually, I received a thank you note from her daughter, expressing curiosity as to who we were, these people who were so interested in her mother, with the implication that she could not understand why, as her mother was “difficult” and had been addicted to painkillers. I thought the response to be disrespectful, with too much information. I discarded her letter and prefer to remember the Elsa we were fond of and privileged to know.The community of caregivers does not discriminate or withhold, from their own or others. Join them and support them if you can.And they serve as role models for younger generations in the family who see them caring for and honoring their revered elders as the natural order of things.If anything has given me faith in humanity, it was my experience in nursing homes, with my mom and mother-in-law, and Elsa.And now, they rest in peace.

If you are a structured person, home health is not the setting for you. I on the other hand, have always flew by the seat of my pants in a million directions. That's what home health is like. Some people try to schedule their days ahead, I do not-and I like it that way. I'm a little different from the average COTA as I also do the entire scheduling of all patients and auditing of notes to make sure we get paid. I typically am at our home office in the morning, though it varies, and treat towards lunch and the afternoon. I like to see 4, maybe 5 patients a day. When you are full time home health, you take every patient you can and they can be all over and slightly out of town. So with myself being in the office half of a day, I have a shorter load due to the time for travel from one place to the next.Most of the time therapist are part time in home health and part time somewhere else. I fully dedicate myself to our business and am extremely flexible and go with the flow when it comes to my daily schedule. If I call a patient up and they aren't feeling well or have a doctors appointment, that's okay, I'll see them another day. I make it a point to get the patients treatments in (typically 2x week) no matter what. Others who are assisting with home health and have other jobs are likely to have set days they're going to treat and kf they don't get to see them, well that's that. I personally see this as neglect and do not feel just putting a missed visit in is okay. Others could disagree.So, with all that being said, my schedule is never planned or the same from day to day but that's what I like and keeps work interesting to me.Notes are usually done at home as I feel it's hard to give your patient the full attention they need while In their home.I have cooked, showered, car transferred, gone to a phone store, taught how to use computers, painted, done gardening, and so much more. This is the last place of treatment for the patient and it's exactly where they want to be. I always have a great time working and helping patients become increasingly independent and safe in their own home. I don't think it can get much more rewarding than than that.Oh, and for those wondering about unsightly or unkempt houses, it's few and far between. A patient has to be independent and safe at home to a point, (so that they are even allowed to go home) where this is not a common occurance, but it does happen. I've dealt with roaches by not sitting down lol, But I haven't had a situation like that since about 2 years ago.