Respiratory Infections: What you Need to Know

Pneumonia and Respiratory Tract Infections On March 16, Neil Ferguson and colleagues offered the Imperial College COVID-19

Response Team’s model for predicting morbidity and mortality specific to COVID19 for the next few months.1 Their estimates suggest a noteworthy increased strain on healthcare resources in the near future. This could add to the burden of increasingly busy and long flu seasons. Fortunately, home care stands out as a possibly under-utilized resource for both normal and novel respiratory infections. In the case of McKenney Home Care, personal aide services, private-duty nursing, and health advocate services could make outpatient care viable for patients who might otherwise take an inpatient bed. McKenney accepts both short and long-term cases.

Hospitalization rates for pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections vary widely from community to community. Authors suggest that clinicians may be using different criteria for selecting the site of care. Patients with mild to moderately severe pneumonia (CURB-65 score of 0-2) are often hospitalized and account for a significant portion of bed days and costs. This is true despite the fact that guidelines suggest these patients are largely appropriate for outpatient care.2 However, patients have varying levels of at-home support and varying levels of independence with ADLs. These differences are known to make patients who may be clinically eligible for outpatient care realistically better off with inpatient care. That is of course, before doctors in southwest Florida consider the availability of a clinically adept home care such as McKenney Home Care.

Using home health to shorten inpatient stays or to avoid hospitalization of community-acquired pneumonia may increase available hospital resources, increase hospital profitability, and improve patient satisfaction. Furthermore, home care may decrease the risk of patient confusion and decrease the risk of nosocomial infection.3

With McKenney, a home care service plan for patients with pneumonia or respiratory tract infection can include:

Home Care Aide Services
• Federally funded home care typically caps out at three 30-minute aide visits per week and usually excludes running errands and shopping. When patients need more attention, consider private-pay services from McKenney.
• Running errands for clients to decrease patient exposure in the community
• Continuous monitoring of vital signs and mental status to alert a McKenney nurse if signs exceed parameters set forth in the service plan
• Meal prep to ensure clients receive proper nutrition and hydration
• Assistance with and monitoring of medication adherence
• Assistance with other activities of daily living as needed

Private-Duty Nursing
• Private-pay nursing can prove particularly useful when insurance benefits are falling short of patient needs and/or for supervising home care aides in cases with higher medical needs
• Skilled observation and assessment including pulse oximetry
• Collecting and delivering lab samples
• Medication reconciliation
• Training family to recognize and respond to s/s of worsening condition
• Training patients and family to prevent the spread of infection

Health Advocate
• With this program, our skilled nurses act as dedicated case managers
• Accompanying patients on doctor visits, helping patients organize information and communicate with doctors, helping patients adhere to the plan of care
• Nurse on-call 24/7
• Keeping up lines of communication with the family
• Helping patients make and keep appointments and coordinate other care as needed

McKenney Home Care in Naples, FL hosts a Lewy Body Dementia Support Group on the first Wednesday of every month.  This ongoing support group is approved by the Lewy Body Dementia Association in Atlanta and is in affiliation with the Parkinson’s Association of SWFL and the Alzheimer’s Support Network.

McKenney Home Care provides exceptional in-home health services and client-centered care. With a passion for maximizing the quality of life of their clients and their families, they are driven to ensure social engagement and specialty services during all stages of life.

For Individuals with neurodegenerative disorders, McKenney Home Care delivers enriched specialized training for its caregivers working with Dementia Patients. In addition to specialized videos and manuals, McKenney educates the caregivers through the use of the Virtual Alzheimer’s App. This virtual reality experience helps caregivers understand the feelings and experience of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of Dementia.

Along with their medical expertise, McKenney Home Care is a certified Music & Memory Agency. Providing help for Dementia Patients; this specialized music therapy program is highly personalized and has been shown to reduce the need for anti-anxiety and antipsychotic drugs by up to 50%, while brining joy to the lives of patients who have Dementia.

If you or someone you know would like more information about McKenney Home Care or the LBD Support Group, please call McKenney Home Care at 239-325-2273, or visit mckenneyhomecare.com.

CALL US TODAY!
239-325-CARE (2273)
9655 Tamiami Trail North #201, Naples, FL 34108

References:
1. Ferguson N, Laydon D, Nedjati-Gilani G, et al. Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand. Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team / WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling. 2020 March 16. Available online at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf.
2. Collins AM, Eneje OJ, Hancock CA, Wootton DG, Gordon SB. Feasibility study for early supported discharge in adults with respiratory infection in the UK. BMC Pulmonary Medicine. 2014 Dec 1; 14 (1): 25.
3. Torres OH, Muñoz J, Ruiz D, Ris J, Gich I, Coma E, Gurguí M, Vázquez G. Outcome predictors of pneumonia in elderly patients: importance of functional assessment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2004 Oct; 52 (10): 1603-9.