Continuing-care facilities come in many types. Talk to your doctor so you
understand which kind is best for helping you recover as quickly as possible.
into your home. And your bathroom may need to be get in and out of the bathtub,” Louie explains. Long-
outfitted with a grab bar or two; a shower door (in- term acute-care hospitals, on the other hand, are for
stead of a curtain); and a shower seat for sitting down patients with very serious health conditions such as
while you wash and to avoid falls. You can also con- stroke, congestive heart failure, renal (kidney) failure
sider renting an electric bed and/or chair that raises and head and spinal cord injuries. Assisted living
and lowers if it’s difficult to get up and down. facilities, for their part, tend to people who don’t
• Household chores: Will you need someone to go need round-the-clock nursing care but who can use
grocery shopping, cook, do laundry, walk the dog or help with everyday tasks like bathing, using the bath-
run errands for you and if so, for how long? room, dressing and eating.
If your doctors recommend a continuing-care
GoinG to a ContinuinG-Care FaCility facility someone at the hospital will arrange the trans-
Maybe instead you’re headed to another type of facil- fer for you. Here are some questions to get answers
ity, where you can get additional help, such as phys- to before you check out: What type of facility am I
ical therapy (PT) or more intensive care or counsel- going to and why?; how long will I be there?; what
ing. There are many different kinds of facilities, kind of treatment will I receive?; what will be ex-
including long-term acute-care hospitals, skilled pected of me while I’m at the facility?; when can my
nursing facilities, assisted-living facilities and inpa- family and friends visit?; can I bring personal items?;
tient and outpatient rehabilitation (rehab) centers. does Medicaid/Medicare cover my stay?; and who
(If you’re being transferred and are not sure why, ask can I ask if I have questions or need more help?
your physician and/or case manager why you’re not When you get to the facility you should be given
ready to go home, says Alice Louie.) more information about your stay there. But remem-
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g If you’re going to a rehab facility, for example, ber, ask questions if you don’t understand something!
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you’ll be expected to work hard with your therapists More than anyone else, you play the biggest and most
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by following the exercise program prescribed for you important role in your health, which means that in
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r so you regain strength as quickly as possible. “We many cases you can do a lot to help keep yourself out
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have a kind of orientation about life after surgery— of the hospital and on the road to recovery. tp
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how to tie your shoes, how to use a walker or cane brooke c. wheeler is an editor and writer living in

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© © or crutches, what muscles to work on now, how to San Francisco.
the patient magazine 2010 33
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