Care management: accept help and recover better

Threatening incision

A heart attack is a life-threatening incident – but fortunately no longer carries an inevitable death sentence. With prompt and correct medical help, the chances of survival today are good. This, thankfully, was also the destiny of our client, who underwent emergency surgery on a 24 December.

A heart attack is often a traumatic experience. The patient has to quickly process threatening information and possibly face their own finiteness in concrete terms for the first time.

Vulnerability: care management helps

Our client reports that he felt vulnerable and anxious after his heart attack too. When a care management specialist wanted to meet him, he was wary. Nev­er­the­less, he agreed to meet her and told her what was troubling and stressing him. Through her under­stand­ing, he was able to gain trust and over­come his pride to accept the help this personal service provides. His trust was consolidated by the regular contact and compassionate coun­selling he received: indeed, a sense of commitment and reliability are central to the work of our personal care management service.

Creating an overview and having time

With the help of the CSS specialist, our client was able to sort out his problems. Together they made a comprehensive assessment of his situation. Looking at his health, private life and professional life, they discussed the different topics and created order.

Having constant access to a contact person who knew his situation and could advise him helped a lot. Equally important was having enough time to take care of everything – after all, any pressure would have been highly counter-productive in his case.

Contact person for questions

Concrete forms of assistance, such as a home help, provided great relief and thus contributed to his good recovery. The well-founded counselling on in­sur­ance and financing issues he received was valuable in this respect. The care management specialists also help patients navigate the sometimes rather opaque healthcare system and find the right treatments and therapies.

Duration of the support

Support by CSS specialists usually lasts between six months and three years. It is the client, their situation and envi­ron­ment that determine the scope. If the client no longer needs help after a few months, the service ends. In the mean­time, our client no longer needs any support or counselling. By contrast, other clients – and their relatives – receive personal service from our care management team until the end of their lives.