Our elderly residents come to Epoch homes mostly, after a major health related event has already taken place such as a fall, surgery, diagnosis/worsening of dementia or unmanageable comorbidities. At this juncture more often than not, elders either completely give up and just let years pass by; or they truly want to give it their best to live a meaningful life, and willfully enter another phase. A lot of this truly depends on the nursing team and what is the extra mile they are willing to walk.
Epoch’s core offering is clinical care in a home like environment. It becomes imperative for the nurses to have technical expertise and be highly skilled nurses but what is also important is to have the highest level of empathy & warmth. It requires re-training, perhaps in some cases also a lot of unlearning of what the nurses have done in their earlier jobs.
We believe in focusing on the person as much as the clinical condition. The nurses have to ensure that the residents are physically healthy and all health parameters are met. But, at Epoch, our care staff are not just good clinical nurses, but also companions of our elderly Nanas & Nanis. The first step is to see if the nursing staff has understood what the elder really wants. The demeanor, body language and smile of the nursing staff are as important as the care given for the clinical condition. Our nurses understand how important it is to motivate the elders, sit and listen and hold their hands and go that extra inch. The rapport that is established between the caregiver and the person is as important as the medical treatment given, since this defines the prognosis of the elder’s condition, and how we at Epoch are driving the change in the elderly person’s approach to his life. It is similar to the olden days wherein the person would tell his General Physician _‘Doctor saab, meri tabiyat apko dekh ke hi acchi ho gayi!’ ( I am feeling better just looking at your reassuring face and smile)_
