Patients and their families are more relaxed after being discharged from the hospital since they believe that they have been cured. But that is still a long way to the ultimate goal of recovery. This is why there is need to embrace post hospitalization care. Here at Sukino Healthcare, we know that Post Hospitalisation Care is Very Important for Quick Recovery. Consequently, a way can be seen wherein it fills the void left by the hospital and the patient’s ability to regain a normal life without being socially-incomplete. In this article, the role of post-hospitalization care and how it plays a critical role in managing patient’s post-hospitalization care is well explained.
The Role of Post Hospitalisation Care in Recovery
Aftercare intake entails a team approach that enables patients to continue receiving care once they are ready for discharge. Such care can include nursing services, physiotherapist services, nutritional consultation and psychologists among others. This last element is crucial to all the aspects of a patient’s treatment. For these reasons, if patient does not get proper care after discharge, readmissions become more frequent, recovery takes longer.
Post-hospitalization care also aimed at preventing relapse or development of complications in the future. People who have been through surgeries, those who have chronic diseases, or those who have had some severe illness are usually vulnerable to complications. For instance, a stroke patient requires intermittent physiotherapy to enable him / her to walk or run in order to avoid skeletal muscle wastage. In other cases, if the patient does not receive follow-up care they may worsen, hence be admitted to the hospital again.
Also, post-hospitalization care plays an important role of identifying other possible complications at the early stages. These and other medical complications such as infection, blood clots, amongst others may not easily be recognised by the patient or the relatives, yet it is the healthcare professionals that physically examine the patient, making their role very crucial in asserting the patient’s condition at close intervals. If addressed early enough these problems do not have to worsen into other severe health complications.
Customized Care Plans Tailored to Individual Needs
At Sukino Healthcare, we find it reasonable to state that each patient’s process of healing is individual. Hence, you might want to know the reasons why saying Post Hospitalisation Care is Crucial for Faster Recovery makes a lot of sense. It is an effective way of ensuring that the patients get appropriate type of care as and when they need it.
Patient specific care plans are especially meaningful in individuals with multiple health problems. For instance, a postoperative patient, who suffered heart ailment and underwent a heart surgery will present a different care plan from a patient who had an orthopedic surgery. The former may require more of cardiovascular rehabilitation while the latter on the other hand may require extensive physiotherapy. When the treatment plan is aligned with the patient’s state, care givers are able to support the body to recover as fast as they can and give the patient a healthy body.
Moreover, the treatment plan focuses on fulfilling the patient’s needs and the relatives may be included into the recovery process. They are also taught on how to help with activities of daily living, administration of oral drugs and observation of signs of complications. Such an involvement does not only contribute to the overall recovery of the patient but also helps the family to assume responsibility in caring for the patient.
The Importance of Continuity in Care
Aftercare services is a very important factor with regard to hospital follow up. Getting out of the hospital is not easy and without having a proper link to the home patients may feel that they are at sea regarding what they need to do the next moment in managing their health. Post Hospitalisation Care is Important to Speed up the Recovery Process because it acts as a bridge between the hospital and home care to eliminate any gap in the treatment.
Such continuity is necessary to maintain continuity of care for chronic diseases. Normal chronic illnesses for example diabetes demands close attention to factors such as blood sugar levels, diet, and dosage of medication. The post-hospitalization program helps to make sure that such patients receive the required attention and do not experience problems such hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in future. Likewise, patients that are discharged after surgery require follow up care mainly concerning their wounds in order to avoid getting infected or heal improperly.
Continuity of care also speaks of communication and interaction between the various care givers. At Sukino Healthcare all doctors, nurses and therapists are involved making sure that the care plan is implemented to the later detail. It makes it difficult for one doctor to miss some of the medications, diagnosis or treatments recommended by another doctor and hence makes the recovery process faster and less complicated.
Psychological and Emotional Support for Patients
Focused on the physical recovery of the patient, little attention is paid to their emotional and psychological states. But, it is worth stating that mental health contributes to the healing process in a great way. There is also the factor of anxiety, stress or depression that can complicate some patient’s recovery, and make them deviate from the recommended care plan and schedule. This is why: Post Hospitalisation Care is Crucial for Faster Recovery—it includes psychological support as an integral part of the care plan.
Physical illnesses or injuries are one of the leading causes of complications involving mental health, especially among patients who have undergone major surgeries or may have serious ailments. Emotional concerns are thus a major concern as people suffer from constant fear that relapse will occur, the pain suffered during this recovery and the annoyance at not being as mobile as before. Follow-up care gives the patients a chance to see a therapist who will help them in dealing with stress and other issues.
Other than professional assistance, the company of family and friends plays a crucial role in enhancing the emotional health of a patient. That is why relatives should be engaged in the recovery process, as this will give the patient confidence and desire. Such companification can make a huge impact on the general demeanor of the patient and his/her will to fight the ailment.
Nutritional Guidance and Its Impact on Recovery
Nutrition is one of the primary aspects of rehabilitation, especially after staying in a hospital. There are individual nutrition requirements that have to be provided in order for patients to heal, gain back their muscle mass, and to avoid secondary conditions. It is also important to know that hospitalisation Care is Crucial for Faster Recovery because it is also an essential part of care plan in terms of coming up with nutritional plan guidelines.
Some of the problems that patients may experience after discharge may include lack of appetite, dysphagia, and limitations due to the patient’s condition. For example a man who has just undergone an operation of healing the stomach that was affected by illness needs a diet that can be digested while at the same time supply the body with the nutrients required. Diabetic patient may require advice on how to adjust his/her carbohydrate intake to ensure that the blood sugar level is well regulated. By providing post-hospitalization care the patients are able to get proper nutritional advice depending on their kind of diet they take.
Another factor that cannot be overemphasized is the need to feed the body properly to enhance the immune system and fasten the healing process. Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and protein power can enable the body tissues to be repaired, inflammation to be reduced, and energy levels to be boosted. While on the other hand, nutrient deficiencies can cause low immune status, long time recovery periods and increased susceptibility to diseases. It therefore means that incorporating nutritional counseling in the provision of post-hospitalization care; there will enhance and improved patient outcomes.
The Role of Physiotherapy in Post-Hospitalisation Care
Physical therapy, therefore, marks a crucial element of continued care after hospital discharges, especially after surgeries, injuries, or other circumstances that may affect an individual’s ability to move around. It is therefore important to take Post Hospitalisation Care Seriously because it involves daily physiotherapy that assist the patient to regain his strength, move around, avoid other complications which might result from the illness.
There are still some complications, which occur after the hospitalization, including; muscle weakness, Joint stiffness, or loss of coordination. Such complications can hinder them from performing normal duties while they can also prolong the recovery period. Some of these issues are tackled by physiotherapy since it entails offering specific exercises that build up muscle strength, flexibility and balance.
However, it is important to note that physiotherapy is also applied in pain control measures apart from increasing physical capacity. The majority of patients develop one degree of pain or another either after surgery or in case of an injury which, in its turn, affects their recovery process. The type of treatment methods used by physiotherapists include, massaging, rubbing as well as application of heat in situations where an individual feels aching or sore. Also, physiotherapy sessions should be scheduled from time to time to avoid complications of acute and chronic pain aspects, which interfere with a patient’s well-being.
Reducing the Risk of Readmission Through Post-Hospitalisation Care
Patients are at a high risk of being readmitted to the hospital in the near future, which is a potential challenge for the healthcare system. Thus, they not only mark possible complications but also become a material and psychological load for a patient. Special attention should be given to post-hospitalisation care since a patient needs to receive adequate care and support for a quick recovery thus preventing hospital readmission.
Some of the reasons for hospital readmission include failure to provide adequate follow up care, medication nonadherence and missed or unrecognized warning indicators of deterioration. These issues are tackled by post-hospitalization care where the patients receive constant follow up, management of the medications, and understanding on the signs that may indicate other health complications. Such an approach also prevents causes of complications and ensures that they stay on course in their recovery process.
However, post-hospitalization also involves subsequent follow-ups with healthcare providers to monitor the patient’s health. Such check-ins help identify a patient’s deterioration, infections, medication side effects, or worsening of chronic disease conditions. Several issues cause the patient to be readmitted and by managing them beforehand the healthcare providers will minimize this occurrence.
The Importance of Patient Education and Empowerment
Instructing the patient about his or her medical condition and recovery process is a critical component of patient care after being discharged from the hospital. Post Hospitalisation Care is Essential for Speedy Recovery because it entails counselling of the patient, with an aim of ensuring the patient an actively participates in the whole process of recovery.
This is the act of informing a patient regarding their condition, the management plan, the medications, and other necessary exercises. For instance, a patient who has undergone heart surgery may require to be educated on the type of foods he/she should take, the type of exercise activities to undertake and the medications he/she should take to avoid future complications. When patients know how the process of recovery goes, they willingly follow the doctor’s recommendations and turn their lives into a better direction.
Besides patients, post-hospitalization care also entails creating awareness among families and caregivers. Such education will also guarantee that those close to the patient understand and are in a position to assist in the management of this patient. Instead, they help the patient with the daily nursing needs as well as assist in the remembering of medications, thus shortening the recovery period.
Conclusion
At Sukino Healthcare we understand that Post Hospitalisation Care is Critical in Accelerated Recovery. It has a first-rate responsibility of not only making patients recover from their hospital stay but also to become healthy again. The components of post-hospitalization care include individualized plans of care, the continuance of care, psychological support, nutrition support, physiotherapy, and patient counselling.
We are India’s first comprehensive continuum care provider. We provide multidisciplinary out of hospital care to acute and post-acute and chronically ill patients at our critical care facilities and your home.