Journal Tracks Information On Meds, Meals and Malaise For The Elderly

SEBRING - Ninety-one-year old Velmar Mack recently spent two weeks in a nursing home, but said he didn't belong there.

With the help of Florida Home Health professionals and a new record keeping system, Mack is back home in Sebring, where, he said, he is happily chasing the neighborhood's widows.

The Senior Advocacy Journal gives Mack and the other elderly a place to keep all their medical records in one place.

It's also meant to be a central place for records on various activities undertaken, medications, meal plans, and disease-specific information, all in one packet.

Mack takes several medications daily. For most elderly, the number of prescription medications taken increases with age, and senior home health patients are more prone to medication errors.

"I have my a.m. pills and p.m. pills," said Mack. "I have to take my pills. You can't slough them off."
Jorge Gonzalez, doctor of internal medicine, said that most elderly patients he treats take prescription medications three or four times per day.

The journal keeps track of when to take a particular medication, and whether meds should be taken with food or water. When more than one physician is involved, the journal helps cut confusion. The journal even lists discontinued medications to inform physicians of which meds didn't work in the past.

"Keeping track of medications is sometimes a significant task," said Gonzalez. "The program allows somebody to supervise and encourage medication compliance. By incorporating this program, I feel that the patients are better cared for."

Florida Home Health employees 10 nurses in Highlands County and was established locally more than two years ago.

The company has 36 locations in Florida and 74 locations in nine states.

The journal is part of a multi-disciplinary approach that educates and allows patients to choose from several options. The journal is free when nursing is provided by Florida Home Health Care.

Kathleen Border, account executive, said her firm's primary goal is to keep patients, including Mack, out of the emergency room and at home.

"It's a safety net for him so that he doesn't fall through the cracks," said Border. "We look beyond the obvious needs to coordinate, manage and evaluate the status of long term seniors, while providing a multi-system assessment.

"The journal puts it all in one place to easily understand," said Border.

Sue Tillmann has been a nurse for 35 years. On Monday, she took Mack's temperature and blood pressure, listened with a stethoscope and checked his medication container. For more than half an hour, she worked to ensure that Mack was comfortable, while keeping close tabs with the journal.

"It holds everything I need to keep track of, to coordinate care for the patient - it's wonderful," said Tillmann. "I fill in part of it and so does the patient. We keep track of every visit and everything that goes on during that visit."

Problems and progress are then relayed to other team members, including physicians, said Tillmann.
"We want them to tell the doctor what questions they have - to write down everything ahead of time," said Tillmann. "The doctors have so little time. We want to make the best of their time."

For more information, call Kathleen Border at 382-0201.