I met a lovely patient the other day who told me he is a delivery man for the Meals on Wheels program. This is a valuable service for many elderly or disabled folks in the community who have no means of getting nutritional help. He himself is an older man who retired and is volunteering his time for this cause.
We had a delightful discussion about this endeavor. I thought it was just the delivering of the meals, but I was educated that there was so much more. Sometimes he is the only point of human contact that the customer ( the patient) ever has, in the form of a wellness check.
He told me of interesting encounters when an elderly lady living by herself was wrapped up in blankets when he arrived. He discovered that her heat had malfunctioned and the landlord was “taking his sweet time to get it fixed” and in the meantime she was without heat for several days. He called around and got things functioning that day ! If he had not arrived with the meals she would probably be still cold or worse.
Another encounter, he showed up and dropped off the meals, and discovered that the elderly client suffering from dementia had left the stove on with food in the pan. Crisis averted in a timely fashion.
He shared many such “in the nick of time” experiences. I pondered about this for a while, as I was alerted to this sort of aspect of human care beyond the doctor patient environments. How easy is it to forget another person if they have no family or friends. But yet it is easier to be able to work on our human connection and compassion by simply looking out for each other. Becoming aware of another, and checking in on them is an easy opportunity to share kindness and love.
Look out for your neighbor, look out for strange activities, look out for anything out of place. It does not mean you become a detective, but by entering the space of awareness outside the framework of the screen in our hand, lies immense possibilities.
…………..
I love you
Leave a Reply