Aging Gracefully: How to Avoid Ending Up in a Nursing Home, by Donny Tuchman

I’ve been the CEO of Cobble Hill Lifecare, a not for profit health care organization in Brooklyn, for almost 15 years. We take care of patients in our skilled nursing facility on Henry St. and we take care of patients in their homes and I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that most of our patients would rather receive care at home, in familiar surroundings. The good news is that they can, thanks to the services home care agencies can provide.

When a patient is admitted to Cobble Hill Health Center, our skilled care facility, they are almost immediately given a discharge date. But they don’t go home alone. We provide them with the nursing and therapy care they will need at home so they can make a complete recovery.       

Take Candace O’Hara, a 76 year old retired social worker. Candace lives with her daughter Mary, in Prospect Heights.  Candace was overweight, smoked a pack a week and salted her food with abandon. Six months ago, she suffered a stroke. She told me, “I thought I was invincible. Never thought it would happen to me. I almost never went to the doctor and since I retired didn’t go out much. I lost a lot of my friends during Covid. I guess I was depressed, though my daughter tried to get me out.  Thankfully, my stroke was relatively mild but I needed months of physical therapy at Cobble Hill Health Center. They helped me get back on my feet. I’m still not fully back to myself but I’m getting there. The good news is I lost 50 lbs. and gave up smoking.”

Candace was lucky. She lived with a caring and loving family member who helped her recover. But she still needed a therapist to come in several times a week to maintain the progress she had made at Cobble Hill and an aide to help with her daily needs. “It was a lifesaver,” her daughter Mary says. “My mom just kept getting better every day. She looked forward to her sessions.”

Penny Jeffries, 62, a 6^th grade teacher, wasn’t as fortunate. Penny, an avid runner, stepped the wrong way off a sidewalk and fell breaking her leg in two places requiring a four hour surgery. The hospital took good care of her but after 10 days she was discharged to our facility. She received intensive physical therapy twice daily. She came a long way but when her insurance ran out, Penny panicked. Her only family member, a brother, lived in Salt Lake City.  “How can I go home by myself?” she asked Stephanie her social worker. “I am really not able to get around that well.” Stephanie reassured her that we would never leave her to manage on her own. “We are going to send a nurse, a physical therapist and an aide for daily activities. Penny was relieved and thankful for the home care she received over the next few months. Eventually, she recovered completely and just recently I met her brisk walking in Prospect Park!

Our patients leave Cobble Hill Health Center and go home after a stay at our facility feeling much improved. When they are admitted from the hospital after surgery or illness, we do our best to help them recover. But what many people don’t know is that when they go home, they can take the care they received as a patient in our facility, home with them where they can recover comfortably. All it takes is one call to a certified home health care agency. My next column will address how to make sure you are getting the best care possible at home.

Donny is the CEO of Cobble Hill LifeCare, a health care organization comprised of: Cobble Hill Health Center and Your Choice at Home, a certified home health care agency.