ASHLEIGH FOX'S THOUGHTS
It is a well-known fact in the health sector that people’s recovery from most physical health-related issues is of higher speed and quality when in their home environment.
Having recently had some time to think about this concept, I reflected on our mental health sub-sector and started to think about how this mindset could be tangibly replicated amongst ourselves as professionals.
We are still at a point where thousands of people are currently detained in environments that are totally out of context of their day-to-day lives – many of whom, as we know, are ready to be discharged following treatment in hospital. It begs the questions:
Is there anything we can do more proactively to avoid people leaving their homes in the first place?
And secondly, how are we equipping ad supporting people for their new reality as they leave hospital?
Take a moment to think about your life as it is today, against a backdrop of our post-pandemic world, and ask yourself these questions.
Ultimately, the people who know their loved ones best are their families – those familial bonds are set from birth. Regardless of our clinical knowledge as professionals, we risk missing those finer details that would truly make a difference to people – families hold these keys.
Our collective goal should always be to keep families together, and whilst this isn’t always possible for various reasons, imagine a world where regardless of your health problem, our system championed physical and mental health being treated in our home context, with a dedicated team being led by people and their families. Imagine a world where if you were very unwell, the priority would be getting you support to recover at home in more comfort.
We know that there is a huge amount of work to do within our systems (and funding required) to work proactively to avoid admissions in the first place.
It’s a huge ask in difficult times, however, I wonder if we could each commit to working even harder to keep the families we support closer together, and speeding up the discharge process just like our colleagues in the acute medical environment?
Share This Story