Sandra

Seventy-five-year-old Sandra is a long-time San Diego resident and former seamstress who was referred to us by a social worker at a local skilled nursing facility (SNF).  At first we assisted her with ensuring rent payments were made and retrieving mail and personal items from her apartment while she was hospitalized. In the process, we met with the building manager who explained that Sandra had been picked up by the paramedics several times over the past six months due to frequent falls. She had been fortunate not to sustain any serious injuries aside from a separated shoulder.

Shortly after we initially met her, she checked herself out of a facility against medical advice and less than 48 hours later she was transported back to the ER by ambulance. She was discharged from the hospital to a different SNF, but once we tracked her down, we visited her regularly and helped convince her to stay and participate in physical and occupational therapy to avoid future falls.

Greatly improved functional abilities following physical and occupational therapy.

She stayed the course and six weeks later she returned home having greatly improved her functional abilities. As a result, she has been stable and successful at managing on her own for the past three months.  Recently, we have assisted her with securing Medi-Cal benefits and obtaining a part-time caregiver through the county’s In-Home Support Services (IHSS) program. For now the cycle of hospital recidivism has been stopped and we continue to follow her.