88 year-old Naoko was hospitalized for gastro-intestinal bleeding and has a heart condition. She lives alone in a house in Culver City. Her daughter, who usually lives in Paris, France, has been staying with her since she was discharged. She also has two other children who live close by and she receives regular visits from friends and neighbors.
While Naoko is well supported, and is able to undertake most of the activities of daily living without assistance, coach Priscilla recommended both a grab bar in the shower and an emergency response system. “Naoko’s daughter was keen to learn about ways to help improve her mother’s safety. I provided her with contact information for a handy man to install the grab bar and information about Life Alarm and Medical Guardian. I also referred Naoko back to her health plan, which has an additional member benefit for emergency response systems.” Priscilla connected her with caregiving services to help Naoko with house cleaning and shopping. “Naoko enjoys going to a senior center, so I also provided information for Access and CityRide, and made sure that the daughter understood the nuances of how to make the application process go smoothly.”
Partners in Care Foundation uses “patient activation” models of health coaching to provide tailored support dependent on a patient’s knowledge, skills, ability, and willingness to manage his or her own health and care. Some patients are self-starters and all they need is connection to resources, while others need information, motivation and follow-up to close the gap. Here is the ninth of a series of stories about patients who have received health coaching over recent months. All names have been changed to protect patient confidentiality.
