After a hip replacement surgery in 2022, Marlene had been transferred to a transitional care unit (TCU), the last place she wanted to be, according to her son, Kent. “Mom always told us that she wanted to walk out her front door into nature, not into a hallway next to someone else’s doorway,” he said. “It was her life-long wish to live and die at home, but her doctor wouldn’t discharge her unless she had 24/7 care at home.”
After researching several home care providers recommended by the TCU, Kent chose Lifespark, primarily because it offered an integrated system of services. “It made sense to me to have one company for both the Medicare-covered services and private-pay home care, and also, I found out later, hospice,” he said. “I would do anything for my mom, but I expected Lifespark to coordinate her care—and if they didn’t, I would raise a little heck to make sure they did.”
Circle of support
At first, while Marlene was still receiving Skilled Home Health services, caregivers from Community Home Care came three days a week and family members filled in the shifts in between. Within a few of months, however, she needed 24/7 care—one caregiver for every 12-hour shift.
“Mom wasn’t comfortable having strangers in her home, so whenever a new caregiver was scheduled, one of us would be at the house to meet them, introduce them to Mom, and make sure they understood her likes and dislikes,” Kent said. “Most did a great job, but there were a few we didn’t want back, not because they were incompetent or mean, but because they weren’t a good fit with Mom’s personality.”
Kent wrote up a short history of his mother’s life which each caregiver was expected to read. “I wanted them to understand who she was as a person,” he said, explaining that Marlene trained and rode horses into her 70s and worked as high-level, professional horse judge until she was 82, “flying around country to watch pretty horses,” as she liked to say.
While her caregivers were the eyes, ears, and hands of Marlene’s care team, her Case Manager, Brooke Anderson, RN, was also important, both for Marlene and the family, Kent said. In addition to creating a detailed care plan, Brooke checked in frequently with the caregivers, met with Marlene and her family to perform 90-day assessments, adjusted the care plan as needed, and communicated changes to the caregivers. “Brooke was exceptional—a true professional with a great sense of humor,” Kent said.
End-of-life conversations
By early November 2024, Kent sensed they were nearing the end of his mother’s life. He asked Brooke about hospice care and she referred him to Kelly Pritchard, RN, Lifespark Hospice Clinical Liaison, who set up an informational meeting with the family. “Kelly did a wonderful job explaining what hospice was and wasn’t, asking us questions, and responding to our concerns,” he said.
Within three days, Marlene’s condition had deteriorated so quickly that Kent asked for a hospice intake meeting. “Going through the assessment was gut-wrenching for me, but the hospice intake nurse, Michelle Ferry, RN, was extremely caring and professional which helped make the process less painful,” he said.
Coordinated, collaborative care
Marlene’s Hospice Case Manager, Jodi Pittenger, RN, worked closely with her caregivers to make sure they adjusted their care as Marlene’s condition changed. Jodi also ordered special equipment and arranged for two hospice aides to help the caregivers bathe Marlene when she was no longer mobile. When Marlene was prescribed comfort medications, Brooke came to the house to instruct the caregivers on how to administer the drugs and how to determine the appropriate dosage.
“The teams worked really well together,” Kent said. “Of course, Mom never liked having strangers in her house anyway, and now she had a caregiver, a hospice nurse, and maybe an aide or two to give her a bath, and it freaked her out a bit, but Georgette, who’d been her daytime caregiver for almost three years, had this way of talking with her that always calmed her down.”
Saying goodbye
Three weeks after Marlene was enrolled in hospice, Georgette called to say that the end was near. The family quickly gathered at their mother’s bedside to be with her as she passed. Michelle, the Hospice nurse on call that weekend, came within an hour to take vital signs, fill out paperwork, call the funeral home, and help the family with the next steps. “Michelle reminded me that Mom had passed on Pearl Harbor Day, a day that will last in infamy forever,” Kent said.
The morning of Marlene’s funeral, as the city was digging out after a significant snow fall, Kent was surprised and moved to see three of his mother’s caregivers and their scheduler, Darleen at the memorial. “It meant so much to our family when Georgette, KD, and Audrey went up to the microphone together and told funny, poignant stories about their time caring for ‘Miss Marlene,’ as they always addressed her,” he said. “They were more than caregivers—they really did become part of our family.”
To learn more about Lifespark’s integrated network of complete senior health services, visit Lifespark.com.
