Innovative VCH Elder Home Care Team Recognized

A legally blind 84 year old man with dementia and renal failure who needs assistance with his activities of daily living and wants to live out his years at home with his beloved cats. An 87 year old woman with severe dementia living with her daughter, who balances caregiving with a full-time job. An 82 year old woman with painful osteoarthritis and heart failure who’s been in and out of hospital because it’s difficult to get to her FP’s office at the best of times, let alone when she’s sick with an infection or heart failure issues.

These are the sorts of Vancouverites who are served by ‘Home ViVE’.

On October 28, the Home ViVE team was honoured with the first annual BC College of Family Physicians’ Innovation in Family Medicine Award, thanks to a client’s wife’s nomination.

The team’s mission is to support home-bound, frail elderly Vancouverites to live out their final years as comfortably as possible and on their own terms, according to their own values and priorities.

The highly collaborative team, who uses shared Electronic Medical Records, shares office space in the Blackmore Pavilion at VGH, and who participate in regular rounds, includes: nurses, nurse practitioners, family physicians, physiotherapists, rehabilitation assistants, and an occupational therapist.

Home visits overnight and on weekends often prevent emergency department visits or, when the ED is needed, allows for communication with emergency physicians to help with an accurate assessment of these complex clients and intervention that is aligned with their goals of care.

Congratulations to the Home ViVE team on their recent award and for the difference they’re making in the lives of our community’s elders!