In 2021, we served over 60% of our patients through our Home Care service, providing a critical option for patients who prefer to and can be cared for at home. Our team of doctors, nurses and social workers make home visits to care for patients and support families by helping them manage the symptoms of advanced illnesses. This includes providing training and emotional support to their caregivers.
During home visits, members of our Home Care team often go the extra mile for the comfort of our patients and their loved ones. We speak to different members of the Home Care Team to find out more.
Q: What is one thing that you do for patients and their loved ones that most people would not expect?
A: One of our Home Care patients was not managing his medications correctly alone at home despite repeated instructions from our team, resulting in sub-optimal pain control. He was not keen to be admitted to hospital and adamantly wished to stay at home. At the home visit, I felt the best course of action was to admit him to our inpatient ward for pain control, which the patient reluctantly agreed to after much persuasion. His family were busy at work, the private ambulances could not come immediately, and this patient was very likely to change his mind about coming to Assisi if he had to wait for the ambulance. So I offered to drive him to Assisi before he changed his mind.
Q: What is the most memorable lesson you have learned from a patient/caregiver?
A: If I were to coalesce all the lessons over the years into a single one, it would be that they have shown me how to live the prayer of St Francis in my daily life.
Dr Grace Pang, Medical Officer
Q: What is one thing that you do for patients and their loved ones that most people would not expect?
A: I had a patient who was over 70 years old, diagnosed with metastatic right breast cancer. She lived alone in a one-room studio apartment and her granddaughter paid her a visit every weekend. The cancer spread to her lymph nodes which caused severe swelling of right arm, and she was unable to sweep the floor or throw the rubbish. I visited her weekly to assist her wound dressing over the right breast. Whenever I visited, I helped to sweep the floor and throw her rubbish after dressing her wound.
Q: What is the most memorable lesson you have learned from a patient/caregiver?
A: The ability of humans to have courage and be resilient in the face of adversity. For instance, family members take up the role of being caregivers to honour the wish of their loved ones to pass away at home. They will do everything they can from learning how to provide physical care for their loved ones to administering medication through injections to make them comfortable, while managing their own emotions.
Saw Nandar Nwe, Nurse Manager
Q: What is one thing that you do for patients and their loved ones that most people would not expect?
I remember fondly an elderly gentleman who was extremely adamant about staying at home despite his high fall risks and care needs. Together with my then supervisor, we visited him at home in our last attempt to convince him to admit to our inpatient hospice. He stuck to his decision, and so we decided that the least we could do was to improve his home environment. Together, we mopped his floor which was wet with bodily fluids leaking from his skin, washed his laundry, and hung them up. He passed on at home shortly after our visit. I was saddened by his death yet thankful that we had done all that we could to keep him comfortable in the way he wanted.
Q: What is the most memorable lesson you have learned from a patient/caregiver?
I realise that compassionate care comes in many forms. It is about understanding what matters most to a dying person during end-of-life and finding creative ways to achieve a good dying process and death for him/her. Every action, big or small, counts, just like how every moment counts for our patients and their family caregivers.
Tey Mei Qi, Senior Medical Social Worker
Fun facts about Assisi Home Care:
