Raj at the age of 57, had been in a residential home for 3 years. Raj has Down’s Syndrome and has cognitive impairment as well as being physically disabled. His family, which consists of his sister Mani and her daughter Visha, could not visit easily as Mani, who is in her seventies, does not drive and had to rely on her Visha to take her to the home.
Mani’s concern was that Raj was not getting the care he needed. Food and medication was not given at set times and he was getting no verbal or physical stimulation. Raj was permanently in a fetal position in bed and rarely sat in a chair.
Mani decided she wanted Raj at home with her. With the help of Bluebird care Leicester Raj came to live with his sister towards the end of 2014. Although she was relieved to have him home, she didn’t know how she would cope.
We gathered most of the information from his sister who had looked after him most of his life and so knew him best.
We also obtained information from other family members and the multi-disciplinary team who had input to Raj’s care. This allowed us to write an outcome based and person centred care plan which would ensure that all Raj’s needs were met.
Within weeks Mani had noticed a difference in Raj due to the effectiveness of the care he was now receiving at home. We had established a routine that meant Raj care was given meals and medication at the times requested and not when staff were doing their rounds in the residential, home.
Within seven months he was able to sit in a chair and no longer defaulting to a foetal position. We even took him to the park or round the block in his chair to see the outside world when the weather permitted.
Bluebird Care Leicester was at the centre of discussions with the multi-disciplinary team that looked after his long term wellbeing liaising with his GP, Occupational Therapist as well as family and the social worker.
Raj was now getting six hours a week of sensory stimulation which involved sound, touch and visual interaction with him. He was able to communicate through smiling, and with his eyes. His sister Mani said that this was a completely different Raj to the one in the care home.
As time progressed Raj’s ability to swallow deteriorated and so we worked with the Speech and Language therapy (SaLT) so that all the staff that looked after Raj received specialist training to make sure his food was at the right consistency so that he did not choke whilst eating and how to spot the first indicators of aspirational pneumonia.
Raj is now 63 years of age, which is considerably older than what his general life expectancy should have been. However, he has a much more active and fulfilled life then he did when in a windowless room by himself.