Robert Bailey joined our community at SHC of Monteagle in February of 2017. Robert was looking to find a new home and community where he could remain active, socialize with peers, and gain an independence that he was struggling to keep living with family. He reflects, “I always accepted that I had to be here, but I wasn’t sure how I would do.” When Robert first came to this facility, he was suffering from vision deficits that were negatively impacting his ability to participate in activities of daily living and activities of his choice. He was also exhibiting difficulty with balance and stability and completing self-care without assistance. He was having some memory trouble as well and struggled to compensate for his vision difficulties in a way that made him more safe.
Over the past three months, Robert has worked extremely hard with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. During that time, he has met 26 short-term and long-term goals set for him by his therapists. While balance, stability, and falling were a concern for Robert when he first came to our community, he is now walking around the facility independently. Standardized assessment scores confirm improvement with his most recent scores indicating that he has improved from a significant fall risk to now scoring within a normal range. Despite needing assistance with all activities of daily living in February, after intensive therapeutic interventions, Robert is now able to complete most activities of daily living including feeding himself, dressing, and taking care of personal needs within the natural supervision of our community. Robert is also using routines and visual aids to assist with recall of the facility schedule. This means that he is not having to rely on anyone to tell him where to be and where to go. He states, “I’m walking in the courtyard and going to the dining room by myself.” This is a testament to his hard work and dedication though Robert is quick to give credit to his therapy team. “My therapy has been real good,” he states. “Therapy has helped me do things even though I can’t see real well. David has helped me alot learning to feed myself… Man, before that I would mess up. I’m also walking out to smoke break and going to the dining room by myself. ”
Mr. Bailey reflects on his time here by saying, “I like living here… To me, everything is real good. When I first came here I felt like I could be missing out. But I’m proud of myself for being able to live here and being able to do things I like to do and that I want to do. I don’t need alot of help now. And I think everyone is glad I’m here and I’m happy to be here.” We most certainly are glad that Robert has become a valuable part of our community.