Is Your Child Transitioning From Hospital To Home? How To Make The Process To Home-Health Care Smoother

2 August 2017
 Categories: , Blog

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If your child has been hospitalized for an extended period of time, you've probably relied on the medical staff for most of your child's care. Now that your child will be transitioning to home care, the bulk of the responsibility will rest on your shoulders. If your child is going to require extensive hands-on care once they're home, you'll want to reach out to an in-home care provider. They'll be able to help provide your child with the care they'll need. To help the transition go smoothly, here are four tips that will help you, and your in-home care providers, give your child they care they need:

Identify Your Needs

As the parent, you'll know what your child's needs are. You'll also know what your needs are, especially when it comes to the help you'll need with your child. Your in-home healthcare workers won't know what you need unless you let them know. Once your in-home support is on-hand, sit down and identify your needs. This will ensure that your support team knows exactly how they can best meet the needs of you, and your child. It's important to note that as your needs change, you'll need to address those changes with your support team.

Establish Clear Rules

Depending on your child's diagnosis, and medical needs, there may be a need to establish rules. This is particularly true if your child responds differently to certain types of stimuli. For instance, if your child responds poorly to loud noises or over-stimulation, you'll need to establish a rule that prohibits the loud noises around your child, or that ensure your child will be removed to a comfort zone should they become over-stimulated. Establishing clear rules will ensure that your child is cared for in a manner that is both comforting and safe.

Encourage Note-Taking

During the first few days and weeks, once your child is home, you and your support team will be getting used to a care routine. You may also be familiarizing yourselves with your child's changing medical needs. During this time, it's important to encourage note-taking; both for you and your support team. Taking copious notes will allow you to document concerns that you might have or questions that you might need to discuss with your child's doctors. It can be difficult to remember everything that you need to discuss without notes to refer back to.

Take Time for Yourself

When your child transitions to home care, you'll want to spend as much time caring for them as possible. It's important to remember that you're going to need some time for yourself too. Otherwise, you'll risk getting sick, and burning out, which won't benefit you, or your child. Remember to rely on your in-home health care support team for those moments when you need to get away and take a breather.

Check out a website like http://www.inyourhomecares.com/ for more information and assistance.