David’s story
David’s wife, Mary, had a bacterial infection in her hand. The infection spread and resulted in a blood clot on her lung and a 4-week stay in hospital.
Although 79 years old, Mary is usually extremely active but on discharge from hospital she found it hard to cope with her usual routine of looking after the house, her husband and her son who lives with them; continuing her part-time job delivering papers for an hour every morning; and being involved in the many charity and activity groups she belonged to. Her daughter, having heard about Prevention Matters when it launched in June, got in contact with the Prevention Matters team and the Community Practice Worker (CPW) covering their area made an appointment to visit the family.
At the visit the CPW discovered that their son, who is 51 years old, has a degenerative visual impairment, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He is dependent on his parents for food preparation and cooking, and relies on his parents for getting lifts to activities and appointments.
Last reviewed: 18/02/2015