During the fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, many patients who were diagnosed with severe illness and stayed in hospital were unable to contact their families on their own.
The allied medical team of Ruttonjee Hospital said that many elderly residents were unhappy because they could not contact their family members. Therefore, in order to relieve the pressure on the frontline medical staff in the ward and ease the anxiety of patients and their families, they spontaneously coordinated the remote visit service, and took the initiative to arrange for patients to visit with their families. Family making video calls.
Some physiotherapists who participated in the service shared that they faced heavy psychological pressure when dealing with a terminally ill patient saying goodbye to their family for the first time. As a bridge of communication, every word spoken by the housing enterprise people will be unforgettable for me to convey.”
The team helped nearly 280 patients and their families from March to April, and said that every time they received their family's thanks, even if they had to work overtime, they felt that the work was very meaningful. People must be very sorry."
In order to reduce the risk of infection, public hospitals had earlier suspended visits to patients.
Ruttonjee Hospital occupational therapist Ruan Fengzi said that in the fifth wave of the epidemic, most of the severe cases were elderly, who did not know how to use mobile phones and had difficulty contacting their families. no family."
The remote visit service is coordinated by the colleagues of the department voluntarily
Ruan Fengzi pointed out that in order to allow the front-line medical staff in the ward to focus their "firepower" to care for the medical needs of the patients, and to let the family members know about the patient's hospitalization status or the progress of rehabilitation treatment, the allied medical team spontaneously coordinated the remote visit service, which consists of the occupational therapy department, physical therapy department, and physical therapy department. The Department and the Medical Social Work Department are responsible for different wards. After the nurses in each ward have assessed and identified patients in need, the team will immediately contact the patient's family to arrange a video call.
Repeated the speeches of the two sides "as if they were burying a loud voice"
During their time at Samsung, the team conducted 340 video visits and about 380 phone calls.
Ruan Fengzi is expected to cover 40% of the hospitalized patients. Many of the elderly are seriously ill and have limited mobility of hands and feet. "I can't turn around, so we have to grab a mobile phone and put it at an angle so that the patient and his family can see each other." ; If the patient's hearing is not good, it is even more necessary to "seem to be a loud speaker, he speaks a sentence and we repeat it, so as to achieve the best communication between them."
She also said that she understands that family members will be very worried if they cannot visit during the epidemic, so she will also take the initiative to briefly report the latest condition of the patient to her family.
Helping the 90-year-old diagnosed with the disease to contact the daughter who lives in North America
Medical social worker Chen Baixi said with a smile that he wanted to play the role of moderator during the call, for example, "one side should talk first, and everyone should help communicate in the middle", and encouraged family members to express their gratitude to the terminally ill patient.
He shared that at the end of March, a 90-year-old uncle who lived in a nursing home was diagnosed and admitted to the hospital. At that time, his physical condition was very weak.
Uncle's four daughters live in North America, and the youngest daughter just returned to Hong Kong to visit her father. At that time, Chen Yu's medical staff in the ward learned that the youngest daughter was very worried about her father, so she immediately arranged for the two to have a video call, and arranged for the other three daughters to meet again in a few days. Uncle meet.
However, the day before the video call, the uncle's condition deteriorated sharply. Chen admitted that "I was so shocked that I didn't have to wait until the next day for the video call", so he immediately contacted his daughter and suggested that it be done immediately.
In the end, the family successfully made a video call, and the uncle passed away soon after. "It's so profound that several girls told him, 'Dad, take care, don't worry about it, you can go in peace', helping them say goodbye."
He also recalled the thrilling process at the time, "If you drive slowly, you will never see the last time. I believe that my daughter will feel a lot of regret and self-blame."
The younger daughter was also very grateful to Chen for his help, and he thought it was very meaningful to be a bridge between patients and their families.
▼On May 20, Lan Kwai Fong Hotel @ Jiurufang exploded the BA.2.12.1 new variant virus epidemic▼
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Physiotherapist Zhong Jianhua has been working in the isolation ward since 2020. He described the isolation ward as "cold" and many patients are also very lonely.
He shared that in March this year, a mother-in-law in her 80s was diagnosed and admitted to the hospital. Since she could contact her family by herself, video calls were not prioritized at that time.
However, Zhong pointed out that his mother-in-law "has no energy and motivation to exercise (rehabilitation treatment) all day long." After talking, he found out that his mother-in-law does not know how to use video calls, so he immediately contacted his mother-in-law and grandson, "My grandson sings and listens to my mother-in-law. , and encouraged him.” The mother-in-law was motivated to undergo rehabilitation.
(This is the first time to deal with a dying case.) At the beginning, the psychological pressure was high, and it would be among the patients and their family members. Sometimes I didn’t know what to do, and there were shocks and sadness at all times, but I still needed to be a bridge of communication. , Every time a house enterprise person speaks a word, I will convey it to my heart.
Physiotherapist Zhong Jianhua
Apart from coordinating remote visit services, the allied health team also provides rehabilitation treatment for confirmed patients.
Zhong Jianhua said that the role of physical therapy is to keep the patient's lungs open, and patients in the fifth wave of the epidemic are more prone to asthma and phlegm. Therefore, in the critical stage, sputum should be taken for the patient to make the sputum suction procedure easier; Engage in early rehabilitation activities to avoid muscle loss.
In terms of occupational therapy, daily living ability training will be provided with patients, and various complication prevention products, such as ankle braces, will be provided to prevent patients from developing pressure ulcers.
In terms of medical and social services, Chen Pak-hei pointed out that he would assist in formulating a care plan for discharge from the hospital, but he had tried "arranging the discharged patients to be discharged from the hospital, but it turned out that the people from the housing enterprises were killed again", which greatly increased the difficulty of work under the epidemic.
▼On May 18, the second enclosure inspection of Xiyuan Terrace in Xihuan Village within a week▼
The HA commends 9 outstanding staff and 7 outstanding teams, including Ho Xiaohui, a doctor in the A&E Department of the Iraqi Hospital. The HA spent more than 8.5 billion yuan on epidemic prevention in the two years of the epidemic. Operating isolation facilities accounted for 1.3 billion yuan. Three of the recovered patients were affected and urged the HA to face up to the fourth injection | Experts recommend that people with low immunity and high-risk groups can fight against epidemic fatigue and should relax social distancing measures to close the area | Yacui Court, Xiao Cui Yuan, Xiao Sai Wan completed the test and found no positive cases