Garden Grove Nurses’ House Calls Program Helps Seniors Prolong Independence

Kelly Baik plopped two large plastic Tupperware containers in front of Nelson Tran and Loan Nguyen, who were seated at the kitchen island. Baik opened one, picked out an amber-colored bottle and rattled it.

“Lasix,” he said, referring to the pills that reduce fluid retention from congestive heart failure. “You need to be taking this, not your wife,” he said, looking at Tran. “It has your name on it.”

Baik, 32, is a “nurse navigator” who has been helping Tran, 86, stay out of the ER and expensive nursing homes despite his heart problems and recent stroke. Baik is part of a team at the Acacia Adult Day Services center that is testing whether old-fashioned home visits may be the key to prolonging seniors’ independence.

Read the full article at the Center for Health Reporting.