The South Bruce Grey Health Centre is finding early success with a program designed to help seniors maintain their quality of life.
The trial program puts personal support workers at bedsides in the hospitals in Kincardine, Walkerton, Chesley and Durham, where they help patients over 65 years old with daily activities.
President and CEO Paul Rosebush says evidence shows seniors lose independence following a stay in the hospital, because the long periods of bed rest can cause a decline in functional ability.
He says patients are screened upon being admitted to hospital and the PSWs then work with the patients to help maintain and even increase their ability to perform daily tasks.
The program was initially launched in Kincardine and Walkerton in February and Rosebush says falls were down 66 per cent while the PSWs were on duty.
Rosebush says the success of the restorative care unit in Chesley is the driving factor behind the program.
"Really, the recognition is that you don't need a specialized unit to do this, and this is care that all hospitals should be providing, that we should be conscientious of," says Rosebush. "So what we're doing is, we're spreading the learnings and our expertise from Chesley out to our other hospitals."
Rosebush says the hospital received $100,000 in funding last year to get the program off the ground and will be applying for an additional $100,000 this year, though the funding has yet to be approved.
