Power of Attitude and Psychosocial Support

I met an elderly woman who had transplant surgery and then suffered several set-backs which kept her in the hospital for 2 months longer than expected which left her very debilitated. When I met her a couple of weeks ago, she was frail and pale sitting up in bed but she greeted me with a smile and her hair was neat and her room bright. During her OT treatment, she had a standing tolerance of less than 30 minutes with 1 break and that's all she could tolerate but she was proud of her accomplishment. She has lots of psychosocial support. Her husband and youngest daughter moved from out of state into an apartment near the hospital for the surgery and recovery period. Her other daughter who lives in another state comes to visit every few weeks. She also attends a support group for transplant patients and has made a new best friend. Besides her regular OT treatment sessions, she attends a yoga group for stress management and also meets with a medical psychologist. She is determined to get well and is very positive. Now she can walk over a mile at one go and she is being considered for D/C.

In contrast, I saw another young woman at the same time. She had suffered lung issues also which left her weak and short of breath. She was laying in bed with the room semi-dark and she looked like she hadn't touched her hair in days. She was alone and didn't speak english. She looked fearful and anxious when we went in and smelled of urine. When I saw her again this week, she had made some physical progress but she still was resistant to getting up to the edge of bed and refused to try to access the bathroom. Her hair still was greasy and the room semi-dark. She did smile a little after we helped her get herself cleaned up but still didn't want to get out of bed into the chair. The therapist told me that she was capable of much more and had done better in a previous treatment session when her sister was there to translate and encourage her.

This really illustrates the impact family support and personal attitudes have on recovery. Transplant patients have more resources available to them to help them deal with their psychological problems but other patients do not unless they become a true danger to themselves or others. Perhaps hospitals would see better and quicker recoveries if they attended to patients' psychological needs along with their physical needs.