2019-2020 Health Care Guide

T hE C hANGING N ATuRE Of S KIllED N uRSING C ARE own tomatoes in the yard, attends church and plays sheepshead on friday nights. In fact, nearly 40% of patients in Wisconsin’s skilled nursing facilities are discharged back to private homes or apartments in the community. Skilled nursing facilities today are different. There is much more empha- sis on restorative and reha- bilitative care. Physical, occupational and speech therapists work with transi- tional care patients, and nurses specially trained in high tech procedures provide the care necessary for patients to progress through rehabilitation. Even the terminology has changed. Once referred to as “nursing homes’, many skilled facilities are now called “transitional” or “sub- acute” care centers. Of course, there are still individ- uals who need care for

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longer periods -- those we think of as more traditional nursing home residents. Most skilled nursing facilities contin- ue to offer care for people who will need to stay for extended periods of time. When you choose a skilled nursing facility, it is extremely important to consider the qual- ity of the rehabilitation services which are offered. These ser- vices include speech, occupa- tional and physical therapies. Placement in a facility with superior rehabilitation services increases the likelihood that the patient will one day be able to return safely to a more inde- pendent life in the community. you can also ask a representa- tive of the facility about its past record for discharging patients back to their homes. Although it is not possible for every patient in a skilled nursing facility to return to the community, a surprising num- ber are able to transition home. As one facility administrator says: “We work hard to meet the needs of our patients. But the happiest day for all of us is when a patient is healthy enough that moving back to the community becomes a real- ity.”

he experience of one 75- year-old metro Milwaukee resi- dent is not unusual: his physi- cian recommended a brief stay in a skilled nursing facility fol- lowing hospitalization for a fall in the shower. his response: “I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought -- a nursing home! I’ll never return to my home and my life. I was unhappy, but my daughter explained that, nowa- days, it is relatively common for people to use nursing facilities for short term care needs, espe- cially when there is rehabilita- tion therapy involved.” In a less common scenario, an outgoing 78-year-old woman was admitted to a skilled nursing facility, follow- ing surgery. her mobility was extremely limited, and it looked as though this would be her permanent home. In the months that followed, aggres- sive physical therapy succeed- ed in restoring the woman’s mobility, and other gains quickly followed. Soon after, the facility social worker approached her with the sug- gestion that she consider returning to the community. She now lives in a sunny apart- ment filled with photographs of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She grows her

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