George
Published on 02 August 2023 10:09 AM
Initial contact via Hospital Discharge and Admission Avoidance Service.
The Circumstances:
George is 95yrs old and lives in Sheltered accommodation. He is a widower with no children. He has a sister who lives nearby, but she has her own health issues. She speaks regularly to him on the telephone. A district nurse visits him approx. every 7 weeks to change his catheter. He takes medication for depression and to help him sleep.
George wasn’t looking after himself very well regarding personal care or eating. He spent most of his life laying on the sofa as he was worried about falling and nobody being there to help him.
His sister contacted us as she was really worried that he would end up in hospital soon as he wasn't looking after himself and she said all she knows he eats is cornflakes with milk and sugar.
What We Did
Our Hospital Discharge and Admission Avoidance team made contact and visited him. George felt that he had had his life and was not motivated. He told us that he was waiting to die, he didn’t want to pay for any care, and had made his will.
We chatted to him and made twice weekly welfare telephone calls. During this time we learnt a lot about him. His life, childhood memories, jobs, travels, interests, and his late wife. There were good days and bad days however gradually George started to accept some of our suggestions for support.
Our Handyperson service visited to fit grab rails at the front and back door, in the bathroom, and fix the key safe (the combination had been forgotten). We arranged Occupational Therapy for a toilet raiser, perch stool, tripod walking stick and seated walker for outside use. Also referred for a Safe & Well visit as the smoke alarms were not working and new ones were installed. The adaptions to his home gave George the confidence to move around his flat, instead of laying on the settee most of the day. We also encouraged him to start going out and to use his scooter, and he began to go to the park to listen to and watch the birds, and sometimes visit his sister.
It was evident that George was lonely and via our Sharing Time service, we introduce him to a volunteer who makes weekly contact to keep up the chats. He enjoys the calls and says “speaking to someone helps break up the day. It’s good to chat about the sport with someone.” Our volunteer told us, “we're getting on well together, we always have plenty to talk about. He loves to talk and invited me round for a cup of tea.”
George has information about our Day Service in the area and is now considering if he would like to attend one day a week.
The Difference Made
Our regular welfare phone calls allowed George to talk about his life and his wonderful experiences. He thoroughly enjoyed getting the calls, which cheered him up and he told us they made him feel cared for. They paved the way for the calls to continue from our volunteer and George now feels less lonely. He is eating better as he feels better motivated to look after himself.
Our support has made a big positive impact on his mental wellbeing and safety. This has led to him taking better care of himself and being more active. The result is he is happier in his life, his sister is less worried and happier. Our support decreased frailty and improved resilience, avoiding hospital admission.
Wrap-around support
George received support from four Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough services and was signposted to two external providers.