Companions often accompany the patient in family medicine clinics and may influence the consultation. This study aims to determine the patients’ perspective regarding the role and influence of the companion in the consultation process. In health care and care giving, a companion, sitter, or private duty is a job title for someone hired to work with one patient (or occasionally two). Companions work in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals, and private homes, and their duties range from advanced medical care to simple companionship and observation.
They may be qualified, for example as a nursing assistant. The companion of the patient can be seen as an important element of the health network and social support. Thus, to include the companion could be a viable and practical strategy that can improve adherence and therefore promote better results in the patient, as well as to ensure the understanding of treatment recommendations by patients, achieving the presence of companion with an attitude of collaboration in the consultation, who, besides, can be used to determine the clinical and family history data during the interview.
However, cases of “difficult” companions or companions with a not-collaborative attitude require a particular approach to avoid interfering with the development of the clinical interview Thus, although it admits that the presence of companion of the patient in the medical office is something common, and he or she is often seen as a family resource to improve the quality and safety of care of the patients, and doctors often assess as positive the presence of companion of the patient, who is usually a family member, but nevertheless reports, reviews or investigations about the presence of a companion of the patient in consultation, are rather scarce in our environment. Companion care, like the services offered by Priority Health partner, is meant to provide emotional support and companionship for seniors.
It also includes services to help make life more manageable including transportation, grocery shopping, light housework and more. If you’re a qualifying Priority Health Medicare member, for instance, you’ll be set up with a companion caretaker through our partner service and, for a few hours a month, your companion will be available to help you with your most important needs. There are many ways in which companion care can help seniors live healthier. Take nutrition, for example. Without access to regular transportation, some isolated seniors find themselves eating poorly simply because they have no way to access fresh, nutritional meals. With a regular caretaker, your loved one can get to the grocery store and help prepare nutritious home-cooked meals. Nutrition aside, companion care also provides the obvious: companionship.
The National Poll on Healthy Aging reports that “chronic loneliness may shorten life expectancy even more than being overweight or sedentary, and just as much as smoking.”
Simply having a companion improves your health on its own, but this is especially true for those who already experience health issues. A companion caretaker lessens these outcomes by being a consistent source of social interaction and providing transportation opportunities so lonely seniors can get out of the house. If you or a loved one struggles with isolation or loneliness as a senior, look into companion care. If you’re a Priority Health Medicare member, check your benefits to see if companion care through Papa is available as part of your plan.
