Our Clients

A Gift in Disguise

Joanne
Joanne is a former nurse who has diabetes and has suffered multiple strokes. She now lives in poverty, and as a result of her strokes has great difficulty in communicating. 

In order to manage her everyday tasks, she was paying a “friend” an outrageous amount for basic house cleaning and shopping.  Health S.E.T. learned that the amount charged ($900/month) was almost equal to the woman’s entire monthly income. A Health S.E.T. Advocate helped Joanne break this arrangement and find affordable assistance. Our staff is continuing to assist her to make sure she receives the services she needs.

John
John is a gentleman with multiple health problems and very little money.  Our nurse care manager discovered that a woman whom he identified as his “goddaughter” was stealing his money and his things, of which he had very few.  John chose to be around this woman because of a desperate loneliness and desire to connect with other human beings. 

Our nurse case manager intervened by talking with John about the abuse, and by getting Adult Protective Services involved. She helped John take charge of his decaying health, one symptom at a time.  And maybe more importantly, she provided for John a human contact, someone who cared about him and his well-being.  The far-reaching effects of this intervention can be seen in John’s welfare today, his lack of involvement with the abusive woman, and his health issues which are now getting resolved.

Betty
Betty, a former client who recently passed away, had nobody.  As a young woman, Betty was bright and successful. She earned a Masters degree in psychology, and was a professor at Brown University.

As she got older, Betty developed acute paranoia. As her illness progressed she stopped working and distanced herself from family and friends. Her sister, who lived many states away, sent letter after letter, only to have them returned, unopened.

After moving into a building with subsidized rent, she came to one of Health S.E.T.’s wellness clinics.  There, a nurse took her blood pressure and talked with her to determine health problems.  Because of Betty’s mental illness, the nurse referred her to our Nurse Care Management program in order to give her one-on-one support.

Marian, our Nurse Care Manager, attended to Betty’s needs. Marian ensured that Betty had a roof over her head, because otherwise she would have been homeless.  Because there was no one to take care of her funeral plans, Marian arranged for Betty to be cremated.  Marian then scattered Betty’s ashes in the Colorado mountains, exactly what and where Betty would have wanted.  It is stories like these that remind us not only do we preserve the dignity in the lives of the people we serve, but also in their deaths.

Gerald
One of the managers of the buildings in which we hold Health Promotion Clinics notified Maura, a previous Health S.E.T. nurse, of the plight of one of her residents. Gerald was 82 and had Arterial Insufficiency, which means the blood flow to his limbs is inadequate. Because of this he was bed-ridden.  Maura knocked on the door and could barely hear him calling “come in.” She learned he never locks his door because he can’t open it himself, and otherwise, no one could enter his apartment to help him.

Maura was shocked to see the condition of the man and his apartment.  Numerous containers of urine surrounded his bed. She saw that the site of a recent finger amputation was infected, and his hand was swollen. She learned that because of the Arterial Insufficiency, doctors had recommended that his legs be amputated but he had refused.  She also learned that he is supposed to be on oxygen but doesn’t use it except at night. Maura checked his oxygen, which was very low and got him some water. 

Later, Maura went back over with gloves to clean up the urine containers. The building manager discussed the situation with Maura, and decided to call paramedics. The paramedics came but Gerald refused to go to the hospital. Finally with his consent, Maura was able to work with Adult Protective Services to move him to hospice care. Although in this case it was not possible to help him live independently, we consider this a success story because we were able to greatly improve his situation.  Although his quality of life was severely lacking, we were able to help Gerald to die with dignity and some grace.