The 67-year-old man, who Gill Creighton and Vicky Coles calls John, has been retired since the mid-1980s due to health problems. Previously, he worked first in the Navy and later in the police.
John has bi-polar disorder and psychotic episodes. He has an ongoing severe depression and suffers from anxiety. He has type II diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. John has reduced skin integrity and easily gets pressure ulcers.
John's wife, who in this case is called Mary, has for many years looked after John herself. But Mary has developed arthritis in her hands and knees and also has back problems. In January 2013 John got acute diarrhea and Mary needed help with personal care and the treatment of John's skin. Help was being given in the form of three caregivers three times daily.
Both John and Mary are very private people and the intense assistance had a bad effect on them both. The control they had had over their lives was taken away. Furthermore, the solution was costly and the caregivers working conditions were not optimal.
John already had a wide range of devices, including a bed, a chair and a ceiling hoist, but only manual slide sheets. In assessing the VENDLET V5 the following was considered in relation to John’s situation:
In addition to the human and personal improvements for John, the implementation also gave a huge cost saving for the local council. The need for three caregivers three times a day was reduced to one caregiver two times a day. This reduced the daily cost from £113 to just £23.
A week after the installation of VENDLET V5 Mary said: "Fantastic. Really fantastic. That's all I have to say - it is just fantastic."
Four weeks after the installation of VENDLET V5, the following was found:
There is now a very good relationship between the caregivers and John & Mary.
The overall conclusion is that the implementation of VENDLET V5 has had a huge impact on the care given to John and on John's and Mary's quality of life. At the same time, the economic savings by implementing VENDLET V5 was significant.
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