Living with COPD and CHF
Patty is a 77-year-old Aboriginal elder who lives in Griffith with her grandsons. In 2014, she was diagnosed with heart failure following an acute coronary event, and a history of smoking.
Patty will tell you that she doesn’t have anything wrong with her heart but suffers from “terrible” swelling and pain in her ankles which makes it hard to walk.
The truth is, sometimes Patty needs a 4WW walker and manages only about four or five steps before she must sit down. She sometimes gets out of breath and the swelling gets so bad that she has to go to hospital. In fact, she has been in hospital four times in the past year alone.
Patty has visits from an Aboriginal Aged Care Service every few days to assist with cleaning and daily activities. She also visits a podiatrist, dietician and GP regularly and a heart doctor on occasion but driving to these appointments is becoming a challenge as getting in and out of the car is increasingly difficult for her.
Managing her own health at home is also becoming increasingly hard and by her own admission Patty is confused by her care plan, particularly as it changes with each hospital visit. Since her diagnosis of heart failure, Patty has been on a heart failure plan that includes fluid restrictions and daily weight management, but she wishes she understood it better as she lacks confidence in managing her fluid intake and doesn’t know how to use the scales to monitor her weight.
When asked what could be done better for her to be well at home, Patty said, “I would love for someone to phone me every now and then to talk me through what to do. I need it to make sense, and I forget sometimes, so I don’t do it and I get sick. It’s not that I don’t want to look after myself, I just don’t know what to do.”
Through the Living Well, Your Way pathway, we hope to be able to help Patty to understand her Heart Failure condition through ongoing education and support. We will work closely with the Aboriginal Medical Service in Griffith and enhance with the provision of community-based services that are meaningful to Aboriginal people.
