Question

One of Lotus Compassionate Care’s newest residents in its Residential Care Unit is Mariana Lopes, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who has only been living in Australia for a year. Six months ago, she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes widespread and chronic muscle pain, fatigue, sleep problems, and memory problems. This condition makes it difficult for her to move around at home and carry out her activities of daily living (ADLs), such as taking a shower and dressing up. Mrs. Lopes is a widow and lives with her only son, Anthony, who recently got divorced and is childless. She is left alone at home most of the day when Anthony is at work. Because of this, she decided to move into Lotus Compassionate Care three weeks ago to access their residential care services.

Two weeks ago, Mrs. Lopes’ Fibromyalgia worsened due to the low winter temperatures, triggering increased pain in her legs and hips, as well as increased fatigue. She can barely get out of bed without the assistance of Laura, her individual support worker. According to Dr. James Campbell, Lotus Compassionate Care’s general practitioner, Mrs. Lopes’ condition—called Fibromyalgia flare—can last throughout the winter season, and she needs a high-level of assistance with her activities of daily living during this time.

Also, Mrs. Lopes’ native language is Spanish, and she knows little English. This has caused her to feel loneliness and social isolation because this language issue prevents her from building good relationships with Laura and other residents of the facility.

The problem is, although Lotus Compassionate Care has the capability and facilities to meet the needs of a client with Fibromyalgia, it no longer has access to:

⦁   professional interpreting and translating services,
⦁   ethnic/multicultural organisations to source and employ bilingual staff who can address language issues and provide comfort and social support to clients who are non-native English speakers, and
⦁   organisations that can provide language lessons and cultural awareness training for its staff so that they can better meet the needs of clients who are non-native English speakers.

Lotus Compassionate Care must immediately address these gaps in its networks and collaborative partnerships in line with its policies and practices which include:
⦁   Anti-discrimination practices
⦁   Code of Ethics for Residential Aged Care, particularly:
⦁   The right of individuals to be treated with respect.
⦁   The right of individuals to have their religious and cultural identity respected.
⦁   The right to an appropriate standard of care to meet individual needs.
⦁   The recognition that human beings are social beings with social needs.
⦁   Code of Conduct, particularly:
⦁   Promote and protect client’s right about diversity and equity.
⦁   Provide person-centred care that considers the individual’s culture, religious, social, emotional, and physical needs.
⦁   Training and development for staff to achieve the organisation’s goals and objectives

For the purpose of this assessment, this case study scenario is located in your state/territory. （ I live in Ashfield   NSW )

⦁   Identify three (3) needs of Lotus Compassionate Care that it must address to meet Mrs. Lopes’ needs and list them in the order of their importance.
Guidance:
⦁   The first priority must relate to addressing Mrs. Lopes’ need for daily self-care.
⦁   The second priority must relate to addressing Mrs. Lopes’ communication needs.
⦁   The third priority must relate to addressing Mrs. Lopes’ emotional needs.

Answer 1

Identify three (3) needs of Lotus Compassionate Care that it must address to meet Mrs. Lopes’ needs and list them in the order of their importance.

Fibromyalgia is a common and chronic syndrome that causes bodily pain and mental distress. the symptoms of fibromyalgia can be confused with those of arthritis, or joint inflammation. However, unlike arthritis, it has not been found to cause joint or muscle inflammation and damage. It is seen as a rheumatic condition, in other words, one that causes soft tissue pain or myofascial pain.

Certain factors may trigger a fibromyalgia flare-up (increase in sensitivity of pain), such as changes in:

• diet
• hormones
• physical or psychological stress
• schedule
• sleep
• temperature or weather
• treatment

The needs of Lotus Compassionate Care that it must address to meet Mrs. Lopes’ needs are

1. Managing her daily lifestyle and help her to get all done.

This is done by preventing the above triggers. Make her stay as in care clinics as possible to help with her all daily life needs. For example, the bed should be such that she can herself make it up and down to assist in getting up from the bed. These types of furniture items make her stay more comfortable and she does not feel helpless (feeling helpless is also a trigger for the pain).

2. Help her to get better communications. This will be done by appointing a nurse who knows Spanish or makes Mrs. Lopes learn Spanish. By doing this Mrs. Lopes time is also engaged in learning new things. Or take the help of artificial intelligence to known what she is saying. (this could be a costlier arrangement).

3. Making her more strong emotionally. If above two goes in good way, she will be feels better and important, that makes her emotionally stronger.