Since 1996, Baylor Health Care System has led a pilot program where health care workers visit elderly, housebound patients. The program includes about 120 patients, who receive the attention of an interdisciplinary team of health-care workers.
The team collaborates on an assessment of each patient’s needs and meets weekly to discuss follow-up care. Two geriatric nurses visit patients regularly, with the assistance of Dr. Ziad Haydar, who oversees the program.
“It had become almost impossible to take mother to the doctor,” says neighborhood resident Ruth Shaw, who cares for her mother Eula Lansdon. “She had to go in an ambulance.”
At 102 years old, Lansdon is bedridden, but “sharp as can be,” her daughter says. Lansdon joined Baylor’s program two years ago, and her condition has since stabilized.
“I am thankful everyday for this program,” says Shaw, 71, who feared her mother’s immobility would make it impossible to care for her at home.
“It’s like having a doctor on call,” Shaw says, “and it has helped me not to have to put mother in a nursing home.”
Shaw’s experience with the program illustrates what the initial findings of Baylor’s study suggest – that house calls are more cost-effective by decreasing the need for emergency care and hospitalization.
Nurse practitioner Joy Lowe says 50 years ago, house calls were the norm.
“It’s a very needed service,” she says, “especially as the elderly population continues to grow.”
For information about House Calls for the Homebound Elderly, call 214-820-6542.
