News from Rupert Case Management Inc.

May 2010

The Inevitable Grandparents' Trap

Greetings!

This delightful couple has been married for 63 years. The couple's children have suddenly realized that there is an urgent need for outside care for their parents, if the parents are to stay living in their own home. Staying at home is just what their parents want to do, with no outside help, other than that provided by their children. This is an enormous undertaking for the children and not one that they are comfortable assuming.

Every day, the son picks up take-out foods for his parents. The daughter is concerned about mother's reluctance to have help at home. Everyone is worried about mother falling on the front steps and breaking her hip or worse. One of the biggest challenges today in elder care is balancing the parents' desire for independence and the children's need to be vigilant, especially with the diminishing capacity of their parents.

Now, let's do the math. Father has seven problems, four specialists, a GP and takes five medicines. He will be hospitalized at least once over the next year and meet with at least three doctors, four nurses, a speech pathologist, a physiotherapist and one social worker. Mother has six problems that she will admit to and has avoided her GP for years. This meets our definition of UBER COMPLEX.

This couple wants to stay in their home and cottage, but they are entirely under-managed and totally overwhelmed. There is a need to address the health issues quickly before a fall results in a fractured hip, a risky operation, and a long period of immobility in the hospital.

Now there is an immediate option for the family - the SENIORS CARE PLAN powered by Rupert Case Management Inc. (RCM).

Benefits of RCM's Seniors Care Plan

The SENIORS CARE PLAN provides the family with these important benefits:

·         Personalized "health blueprint" to ensure continuity of care

·         Central co-ordination and management of all the care that is required

·         Assistance with decision making and planning

·         Rapid access to a knowledgeable team, that is responsive and accountable to

the family

The Advantages of Membership

RCM is an expert in real time medical intervention for complex patients.

RCM provides the clinical leadership, care co-ordination and collaboration needed for managing all the details of these complex cases.

RCM uses high impact teams of medical doctors, nurse case managers, social workers, psychologists and dieticians.

RCM does not replace the family doctor. RCM backs up the family doctor if he or she is not available. When required, RCM will arrange for specialists' services, accessing RCM's TOPDOCS Canada network.

RCM will organize case conferences with the patient's doctors to ensure there is continuity of care and that everyone is on the same page.

RCM provides an annual audit together with regular pro-active testing and monitoring at home to identify problems early and to prevent adverse health conditions from developing.

RCM works with nursing agencies such as Bayshore Home Health which provides high quality home based care nationally.

Bayshore's professional staff takes charge of all of the details in the home and works with RCM's staff to ensure there is seamless management of the care.

RCM provides an online journal for Bayshore's nurses and personal care workers to input patient information. This information is then reviewed by RCM's medical case managers and nurse case managers and is available online for family members.