Going home for the holidays

Appropriately dressed in a red sweater, Nan Anders busies herself making her bed in her room at the St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre.

It’s Dec. 20, and in two days, Anders will be going home to her husband and family just in time for Christmas.

Due to a broken femur, Nan was admitted as a patient in the Assess and Restore Unit (ARU) at the St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre Oct. 5.

The ARU is a slow-paced rehabilitation program for individuals like Anders, who have experienced a decline in their condition but still have the potential for further functional and cognitive improvements.

The goal of the program is to provide patients with the care and services they require to obtain their maximum level of functioning, so that they can return to independent living in the community.

Anders’ goals of independent ambulation and transferring, coupled with family support and motivation to return to her home, made her an ideal candidate for the ARU program.

As part of her daily routine, Anders actively engages in rehabilitative exercises in the facility's gym. Anders said that the quality of therapy she has been receiving has allowed her to notice great improvement in a short amount of time.

Although Anders realizes she will not have all the equipment the facility's gym provides at home, she feels confident that she is now equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to continue her exercises using alternatives in her home.

As with all discharges from the ARU, Anders was given a home exercise program to follow.

Anders said she received excellent nursing during her stay at the ARU.

“I was never made to feel as though I was imposing on the nurses’ time,” she said. “It was always a good atmosphere.”

She went on to describe the St. Joseph Continuing Care Centre “as not feeling clinical,” that there was no tension and that staff are always friendly and know your name.

Moreover, she had the opportunity to socialize with other patients while she shared her table in the dining room — a place where she said the quality of food was great. Anders also enjoyed other activities aimed at improving motor skills and cognitive function, such as craft sessions.

As a result of her admission to St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre, Anders is now able to ambulate independently with her walker and has regained some of her strength in her lower extremities.

In addition, the therapy team at the facility spent time at home with Anders prior to her discharge to identify strategies for increasing safety and accessibility throughout the home.

Extremely pleased with her experience at the care centre, Anders is a strong advocate for the ARU program. She feels her level of therapy has been wonderful, and credits the interprofessional team’s complete approach in addressing her needs. When asked, “What will you do for Christmas?,” Anders simply said, “Enjoy being home.”

St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre is northeastern Ontario’s only continuing care hospital (64 beds) offering specialized care programs for medically complex patients whose conditions require a hospital stay and regular on-site physician care.

The goal is to achieve high levels of medical recovery and active rehabilitation so that patients can transition to lower levels of care or back to the community.

In addition to the Assess and Restore Unit program, the St. Joseph Continuing Care Centre also offers a Geriatric Rehabilitation Unit program.

This is a slow-paced rehabilitation program that provides specialized geriatric rehabilitation for frail older persons (generally 65 and over) who cannot tolerate the intensity and frequency of a regular stream rehabilitation program and require inpatient therapy and management of geriatric conditions that threaten an older individual’s ability to return home or live independently.

Since opening in August 2009, the St. Joseph Continuing Care Centre has discharged a total of 314 patients from its programs.

“We are pleased that as an organization we have been able to step up to the plate in order to meet the unmet needs of the community,” Jo-Anne Palkovits, president and CEO of the St. Joseph’s Continuing Centre, said.

“The board and staff have shown initiative in meeting the challenge by continuing to work with the Sudbury health care system to develop programs that benefit some of our most vulnerable citizens while at the same time assisting to alleviate the pressures of the ALC situation.”

This article was written by Angele Dufresne, communications adviser with St. Joseph's Health Centre, which operates the St. Joseph Continuing Care Centre.