Advantages of Home Hospitalization
Although home
care services have grown tremendously, most people are not very clear about
this service. As a structured company with home care services, it does more.
Hospital home health services help youth, adults, seniors, and children
recovering from a hospital stay or who need additional care to follow treatment
at home and avoid an unnecessary hospital stay.
This model has
grown so much because people's life expectancy has grown exponentially in the
last century, and it is expected that they can age with a very good quality of
life. Another reason is that medical technology has developed enough to allow
complex treatments at home. Also, many diseases that were once fatal have
become chronic due to the development of medication, for example, AIDS and some
cancers.
In these cases
mentioned and in many more, staying in the hospital does not make sense if
there is a way to be cared for at home, with all the advantages this option
has.
Home
hospitalization: treatment or recovery is medically supervised in the patient's
home rather than in an inpatient hospital or clinic. There is always a doctor
in charge of the care and is accompanied by nurses and care staff like those
who work in a hospital.
Home care after
hospitalisation offers multiple benefits to the health system, such as the
greater availability of beds for emergencies or reduced total costs. Still, in
this article, home health care will focus on the benefits and advantages that
this model offers patients and their families.
1- It is
appropriate for many types of patients and of any age
It is a system
that solves the medical care needs of:
• Chronic
decompensated patients (COPD, heart disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, cancer, etc.)
• Patients
with acute processes are mainly infectious (pneumonia, urinary tract infections,
endocarditis, osteoarticular and soft tissue infections, etc.)
• Recovery
from surgeries (hip replacement, breast surgery, laparotomy, coronary bypass,
etc.)
• Accidents
and complicated wound healing
• Long-term
intravenous treatments
• Patients who
need parenteral nutrition
2- The patient
remains in his environment and recovers more quickly
Being at home
with unlimited access to loved ones gives the older family member the best
chance for a full recovery. The flexibility of schedules at home produces less
stress, which translates into faster physical and psychological healing.
3-
Hospitalization at home is cheaper
It can cost
several times less than staying in the hospital for the same amount of time in
some cases. Costs of hospital transfers for family members are also avoided
such as in the case of hospitalized children where the mother or father often
has to move nears the hospital for long periods.
4- Reduces the
risk of hospital infections
Getting an
infection while staying in hospitals or clinics is common. According to the
World Health Organization, almost 9% of hospitalized patients will contract an
infection that they did not have before admission and were not incubating.
Geriatric patients, immune suppressed patients, those receiving chemotherapy
and infants are more susceptible to these infections and complications. Staying
at home in these cases is the best option since the patient will not be in
contact with sick people.
5- The patient
does not care about those who stayed at home
During
a hospital stay, both the patient and the family caregiver endure an extra dose
of stress due to concern for the rest of the family at home. Parents worry
about the children left at home and must find caregivers for them. Older adults
are often stressed about who will care for their pets and about the safety of
the house. These concerns threaten the patient's recovery and are perfectly
avoidable when home health care is
chosen.
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