“I have got to get organized.”
That thought kept repeating in Dan’s head as he attempted to juggle the responsibilities of parental caregiving: ensuring his mother didn’t fall while moving from room to room, figuring out how to safely transfer her from the bath or shower back to a chair, managing her appointments and prescriptions – and doing it all on a very limited income and very little sleep.
“It was a lot,” said the Hampton Roads resident. “At one point, we had a couple shopping bags on the dining room table, one for her and one for me, full of medical paperwork and information. I couldn’t even start to make sense of it. I knew I hadn’t gotten my own checkup in years, but you know…other things had to come first.”
After Dan was flagged by Waymark SignalTM, Waymark’s proprietary tool that identifies patients at increasing risk of avoidable hospital and emergency department (ED) visits, Amber, one of Waymark’s Community Health Worker Leads, reached out. The timing was serendipitous, Dan said, as he was struggling to straighten out his health insurance, the first step in even scheduling an appointment.
“Then the next thing we did, and I always remember this, was [Amber] helped me make sure my name was spelled right on some forms where it’d been misspelled for years,” Dan added. “They mixed up the vowels in my last name. It was a little thing, but it meant a lot to have that done.”
Short-Term Improvements for Long-Term Empowerment
After straightening out Dan’s insurance enrollment and correcting his name spelling, Amber and Dan began collaborating on several of Dan’s other pressing concerns: addressing his sleep issues and getting him caught up on his primary care provider (PCP) appointments and vaccines. Amber accompanied Dan to a PCP appointment and ensured he got a referral to a sleep clinic and a medicated cream to help with emerging arthritis symptoms in his joints. Dan was also able to get appointments to see an eye doctor and a dentist and got caught up on all his vaccinations.
“We got a lot of big things off my chest, and I felt like, ‘okay, I have things under control now’,” said Dan. “That’s been just really great. We’re still working on the sleep clinic thing, but that’s something I can do myself.”
As he worked with Waymark care team members, Dan expressed an interest in managing his care himself – which required tackling a technological learning curve. With the help of Amber and his sister, Dan purchased a smartphone and learned how to access MyChart and other similar digital health record platforms. This, he said, went a long way in ensuring he felt empowered to manage his own care long-term – and helped alleviate that ongoing stress of needing to get organized.
Next on Dan’s and Amber’s list: finances. Dan and his mother lived on a very small income, which caused no end to Dan's stress. In partnership with Waymark’s care team, Dan was able to receive ongoing compensation – including back pay – for the care support he provides to his mother, which has allowed him to improve areas of the house that were formerly inaccessible to her.
“We’re working on the bathroom so she can safely get into the tub and shower, and I got some cameras put up so I can check on her without worrying while she’s napping,” said Dan. “I wanted to start going out, getting on walks, but it made me so nervous leaving her. It’s just been really great to not have to worry as much.”
“No matter what you’re going through, it really helps.”
As Dan pages through MyChart tabs on his phone to schedule a follow-up appointment about his ongoing joint pain, he feels proud of the progress he’s made to get to this point. “I’m not a phone guy,” he said, “but this is pretty great. I can just hit some buttons and get an appointment, and then put it on a calendar in my phone!”
Plus, he added, becoming more tech-savvy has opened up other worlds for him, specifically the world of science fiction podcasts. “I figured out an iPad after I figured out how to use the phone, so now I can play stories or shows and listen to things while I take care of Mom or the house. I think it’s actually helped me out a little bit with being less stressed.”
If Dan could tell his longtime Hampton Roads community one thing about Waymark, he would say it’s the sort of resource everyone should be aware of.
“It’s not just doctors and specialists and making appointments,” he said. “It’s figuring out where to go to get things straightened out when you feel like you don’t know where to even start. No matter what you’re going through, it really helps.”
