Case Study: Congestive Heart Failure/Aspiration

One story is of Willard who came to stay with us the beginning of September. He had been living at home and caring for his wife but very ill with CHF and aspirating. He became bedbound, creating skin issues, and was admitted to the hospital. Throughout his hospital stay his goal was to return home but as time for him to leave came, it was clear that he needed some more TLC and rehab for him to be able to make it there. A staff member from Santuary at the Park met with him and explained what we could do to help him. At the time he came in he needed assistance with all of his daily needs and was very weak, but highly motivated. Our excellent therapy team and caregivers worked (and sang!) with him daily to encourage his progress. His wonderful upbeat attitude helped him as he worked with therapy, often singing old songs with them as he became stronger and stronger. Our staff did a home evaluation with him and made some recommendations and assisted him in getting the equipment he needed to go home safely. He stated, “I learned some new things that will help me at home,” but with tongue in cheek thinks our rehab team needs to learn how to sing better!