Podcast: House calls and comfort go hand in hand

The days of old-fashioned house calls may be over, but amid a global pandemic there is a growing trend towards providing some medical relief in the comfort of patients’ homes.

Sister Sharon Roziers is the co-founder of Relief Med, a home-based care service in Cape Town. Photo: Supplied/Relief Med

On episode 13 of Sisters Without Shame, a friend in crisis from Port Alfred says that she’s considering the option following a labour scare and fears of catching disease in clinics and medical offices.

Sister Sharon Roziers from Relief Med, a Cape Town home-based care service, unpacks the benefits of receiving medical care in your own home, not only for elderly people who are home-bound but others as well.

Roziers has accumulated more than 30 years’ of general nursing experience and more than 10 years’ experience in pathology. Together with her business partner, Dr Nabeel Sima, Rozier is on a mission to bring relief to Cape Town communities by providing basic medical services in the comfort of their own homes.

Home-based care gives the patient the right to find comfort in their medical treatment. “We lessen the stress for people,” Roziers explains.

“They [clients] don’t have to stress about taking off work, or the inconvenience of asking someone else to take their mom, dad or child to the hospital. House calls ease your burden and stress.

“[And] we are not limited to the elderly alone. But if your mom or your dad is bedridden, they don’t need to be frail.”

Patients don’t want to feel like numbers

Roziers further explains that the appeal in house calls lies in the humanity of a patient.

In a doctor’s office, the interaction often feels cold, and people become patients in a numbered room. In a home, rooms have names, patients are people, and the doctor or nurse is a guest. It is a very different dynamic.

“You know how appreciative people can get, even if you are only going to their home to take their blood pressure?”

“They are scared to go out. They are scared to go to hospitals or to go to doctors’ rooms.”

And a tip for the mom

Roziers also shares tips with our friend struggling with high blood pressure. She tells the mother-to-be to get a handle on her preeclampsia, which could pose threats to her health.

“If it gets severe, it could put a strain on the heart of a pregnant woman, as well as on her kidneys. The worst scenario is that our friend can get a stroke from preeclampsia. She can go into early labour or premature birth, which is also a danger of high blood pressure in pregnant women.”

Not all is lost, though. There are a few tricks she can try to lower her blood pressure during her the last weeks of pregnancy.

“What I would advise her to do, is to reduce her salt intake and to stay hydrated. She needs to have a balanced diet that will consist of a lot of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, a lot of poultry and she needs to cut down on processed foods. Exercise is also a good way of getting your stress levels down.”