The transition from hospital to home has always been fraught with peril. Now has become even more so in the era of COVID-19. The limits on caregivers and advocates visiting and supporting a patient 
in the hospital, the over stretched hospital staff, including social workers and discharge planners, and the significantly reduce options for transitional care are major barriers. But many of the problems existed before the pandemic. In fact, a Transitional Care Blueprint released in San Francisco in 2008 documented the issues and provide a wide range of improvements needed. A few were implemented and remain, others were implemented and then disappeared when funding was cut. The rest are still good ideas that could be implemented locally with strong advocacy.
As more and more of the neighbors we meet through the Community Connector networks and our other programs face increasing illness and disability, this issue has resurfaced as a critical one to address. One of our earliest neighborhood networks created a team that called itself the “Keep Helen Out of the Hospital” . A Community Connector enlisted neighbors and health professionals alike to support Helen in this goal. It included both a good discharge plan but a commitment to prevent re-admissions which are often result from an unsafe discharge. CLC is working with the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) to expand its Safe Hospital Discharge workshops and provide thousands of wallet cards about who to call if you or your loved one is not getting a good discharge.
CLC will be presenting a workshop at the next OWL meeting on your patient rights in a Navigating Hospital and Beyond. It will be held Saturday, February 27 from 11:00 to 12:00 on Zoom. Participants will receive a packet of information via the mail from CLC as well as the Hospital Discharge Wallet Card shown here. In the meantime, if you would like us to mail you this card, send your address to info@sfcommunityliving.org.
To connect with CARA for. workshop near you or if your organization would like to sponsor one, contact jreid.cara@gmail.com. Or download some of the information that will be available to those who attend these workshops.