Hey guys,
Sorry for lateness technology let me down last night and I couldn't post my blog as the internet gods were unhappy with me.
My post this week comes again from the nature of my placement in that it involves a lot of visits to clients homes. I had one particular visit this week which I don't think I could ever forget, and not in a good way. This house was smelly. Due to the 'professional' nature of this forum I can't use appropriate words to emphasise just how smelly, but it was unbelievable. I have never encountered anything like it. The visit was for a multidiscplinary family meeting, and I walked into the kitchen to find an OT, a PT and a Speechie all perched on the edge of their chairs looking uncomfortable. I looked down at my own chair and realised why. It was FILTHY. I'm not exaggerating when I say it had never been cleaned in its entire life as a chair. I looked around and the rest of the kitchen was in the same state. There was grime smeared down every cupboard, and mould everywhere. There was a mound of something next to my seat which looked like it may have once been bread crusts.
I joined suit and perched on the edge of the filth, clutching my handbag. Throughout the hour I was at the house, I gagged at least 5 or 6 times, each time doing my best to disguise it as some kind of coughing fit. I felt ILL. I felt as though I was contracting some kind of deadly disease, or at least a chest infection, just by breathing inside this house.
I left the house bewildered and nauseous, but also outraged - Why should I be subjected to this? When does a house become disgusting enough that we can refuse a home visit and insist the family come to the centre for treatment? And more importantly, when does a house become filthy enough that the owners can be forced to clean it due to health risk to their children?
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2 comments:
That is disgusting dani, you poor thing!! At least when a pt in hospital smells a bit foul you can walk out of the room for a breath of fresh air, that must have been awful! Did you talk to the OT, PT and speechie about it, or your supervisor? I'm sure there must be rules somewhere that say you don't HAVE to enter their house if it poses a risk to your safety for domestic violence cases etc, so if there's a risk to your health (being a health professional) i don't think you should have had to be put through that. But i guess when the rest of the AH team were already in there, you couldn't refuse too stay! Sorry you had to put up with that, must have been horrible! xox
Wow what an experience :) If it was that bad you would think that the owner would be able to at least acknowledge that YES they too cold see and smell they had an issue with the cleaniness of their house. Therefore, open the door for you to politely help them realise it is an issue that needs to be resolved for their own health! In such a case there must be an underlying cause; was it that they could not physically or/and mentally manage to clean their house due to some impairment/ disorder/ lack of well being? I would be interested in establishing the cause so I could offer the right care or advice to seek aid so that this person could live in an environment with one of the most important qualities GOOD HYGIENE!! I think it would not be rude to bring up the issue briefly in a manner that is not blunt and condescending as you are there to improve the QOL of the patient afterall... xox
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