Following a stroke, Yolanda’s husband was admitted to hospital where she regularly visited him. Her husband also has a sever sight impairment and dementia. Yolanda was managing the caring role well until her husband had a stroke but is now feeling under a lot more pressure as his behaviour has changed significantly.
The hospital ward staff recognised Yolanda’s struggles and after speaking to her referred her to the a Suffolk Family Carers Hospital Family Carer Adviser.
Due to Yolanda’s husbands health there were no immediate plans to discharge him, which allowed our Advisors time to discuss Yolanda’s situation in detail.
The ward staff have been so helpful and welcoming, I come to visit Vic, my husband every day and help him with mealtimes, washing, dressing and just being with him lifts his spirits.
I’ve recently been to see the GP about some health concerns of my own and they have sent me for some tests but I’m waiting to hear the results of them. Trying to manage that as well as caring for my Vic is a big worry, especially now after his stroke. Vic was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago now and we were managing that ok. All of our children live away, some not even in the UK, so we’ve just had to get on with it ourselves.
It’s quite rural where we live and I don’t have any other support network, which is hard sometimes. We do have video calls with the family, which is really lovely.
When Vic is discharged I am worried about how I will cope at home physically, emotionally and financially. It would be lovely knowing where to turn for help when we get back home.
The Suffolk Family Carers Hospital Family Carer Adviser was able to talk with Yolanda on multiple occasions on the ward, via telephone and email. They they discussed options, and found solutions to her concerns about finances, not having a support network and her own health. They suggested Yolanda contact The Louise Hamilton Centre to discuss finances and benefit entitlements, and also made referrals to other organisations to support Yolanda and her husband on his return home.
“The conversations with the Suffolk Family Carers adviser were helpful, not only for me to discuss how things are for me and what might help us moving forward, but also to understand the hospital discharge process and to explore what we both would need, and how this would be managed when my Vic came home.
I’m so grateful to the ward staff for referring me to Suffolk Family Carers. I wouldn’t have known about any of this support and I really don’t know how I would have managed when Vic came home.”
Having Family Carer Advisers in the community means that we can bring our expertise, knowledge and support to where Family Carers most need it.
