Just imagine a six-year-old child has just had a life-altering car accident and has to learn some basic development skills all over again. At that age what child doesn’t already want to be close to their parents? Especially, if they are in a new place working with people they don’t know to help them receive the new care they need. You can have all the best and friendliest therapists and nurses, but the parents are the key to making when making that transition to an unfamiliar place.
For example, there was an Orthodox Jewish family whose daughter that did much better in her daily care when her parents were there, but didn’t when they were gone. Their travel was not more than a 30 minute drive, but it was impossible to observe their holy days as a family since Ranken Jordan was not walking distance from their home. With family housing on campus the walk would have been a few feet away and not too long for their other children.
Close proximity is also helpful with caregiver training. If the parents stayed at Ranken Jordan’s Home Away From Home they could easily attend their training sessions which teach them how to make tracheostomy changes, give them ventilator training, and instruct them on gastric intestine tube-feeding. The quicker the families learn these new necessities for their child the greater chance they can go home sooner. When parents live closer they are able to participate more. This is helpful for assessing what resources these families might need to assist them with their and their child’s new equipment and needs. A parent’s presence during therapy can greatly expedite their child’s development process.
As parents, and especially new parents, we tend to want to check on our child even if we know they are alright. Like, when you don’t hear your child making a fuss after a few hours during a nap you risk waking them just to make sure they are okay. But just imagine if you are 45 minutes away from your child during their nap—you can’t just sneak over to peak in on them as if they are down the hall. For the family that lives more than 100 miles away from Ranken Jordan, being here every day with their child is a luxury that some people simply cannot manage. “A Home Away From Home” would take care of that, and help that six-year old patient (and parents) sleep better at night knowing their loved-ones are nearby.
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