Getting Ready
to Come Home
Contributed by: Martha Hawkins BSN, RN, CRRN;
Case Manager, Frazier Rehabilitation Hospital
Eddie Reynolds M.Div. Outreach Coordinator,
Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky
Believe it or not, the time will come when you will be told the
news that you’ve wanted to hear for some time: that your family
member will be discharged and soon will return home. However,
you will then learn that hospitalization and rehabilitation is only
the start of the long process of recovery. After a person has been
judged to be medically stable and has received all the therapy
that the rehabilitation team has required; the family will need to
prepare to take their family member home. Now that the day is
here that you’ve longed for since that call from the hospital came
has finally arrived and now you may be asking, “What’s next?”
It would be a mistake to assume that when your family member
is discharged that there is nothing more to do. Physical, speech
and occupational therapy is designed to teach the person the
skills that they will need to continue their recovery from brain
injury. Many professionals will tell you that recovery is a life-long
process and does not end when your family member is no longer
sent to therapy. Here are some suggestions that we hope make
the transition home easier for everyone and will aid in improved
recovery.
• Use the time in rehabilitation to learn what you can about
brain injury and how to help your family member. That is why
many rehabilitation facilities have family education classes;
they are preparing you as well as your family member for
the day when they will return home. Regardless of the level
of support your family member needs, you will need to be
educated in brain injury and recovery in order to educate
family and friends. Keeping a notebook with papers and notes
from what you have learned will be invaluable to you when
you all return home. You will need to be prepared to educate
family and friends on what to expect and even offer a few
practical suggestions on how they can assist in recovery.
• Identify your resources for help before the discharge date
arrives. The Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky and the
Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund will be able to help you
in this process. You may need to contact your local Social
Security Office and apply for any of their financial services
that your family member will need and will be qualified to
receive.
• If specialized equipment is needed, then the rehabilitation
facility will usually have staff on hand to help you access
the resources and services that will be needed in the home.
A good task for someone who wants to help would be to
get the house or apartment physically ready for your family
member’s return home. Be sure to inquire about resources
if physical changes such as an access ramp will be needed
before you return home.
• Be aware that it is common for persons with brain injury
to have a lot of fatigue for some time after their injury.
Therefore, be careful about planning too many homecoming
parties and surrounding the person with visitors. Be sure to
talk to the person with the injury, to know when they feel
like visitors and whom they would like to see. You may wish
to schedule visitation times so family and friends will know
when it is best to stop for a visit. Remind visitors not to be
offended if they are asked to cut their visit short; but that the
person tires easily and may need some rest.
• Treat the person with the injury normally and be ready
to make reasonable accommodations. For example, if a
person has a broken leg, crutches and avoiding stairs is an
accommodation; carrying them up the stairs is not. Make
sure that while barriers are removed, the person with the
injury is treated just like any person their age. It is important
for their continued rehabilitation that they receive the
supervision and support necessary for them to be fully
independent again.
• Be patient. Be patient with the both family and friends. While
the person with the brain injury may look normal, they may
act differently. This may be difficult for everyone and family
and friends need to know that any changes of behavior are a
part of the injury. Family therapy may be needed to help the
family, especially children, to adjust to these changes.
• Get organized. Organization will be the key to helping your
family member adjust. Organization is a key to dealing with
memory problems. Teach the person to put things in the
same place all the time, use calendars, timers and other tools
to remember medications and appointments. Maintain a
regular schedule of sleep and eating to help them continue
their recovery.
2020-2022 BIAK Resource Journal 15