Responsive Home Care Involves Assessment Of Hospice Philosophy Of Palliative Care. Over the years, the home care concept and principle have changed significantly. The home care agencies now have come out of the traditional practices of providing home care and have designed better policies following the principles set and abiding by the federal regulations.
Ideally, the State Department of Health sends surveyors to investigate whether a nursing home care facility is following the Federal Regulations for treating the senior citizens either in their facility or even in a home setting. According to their findings, they decide whether or not citations should be issued to the nursing home or the home care agency.
It is for this reason and ‘fear’ the home care agencies follow the proper assessment of the condition of the patient whether it is for:
- Providing general care
- Aiding them in their day to day life activities or
- Treating wounds and injuries of any kind.
Accordingly, they are required to design the treatment and care planning to increase the probability of wound healing and the overall wellbeing of the patient. It is for this reason experts recommend that you always rely on experienced home care professionals to get the best care, even if it costs you a few hundred dollars more. Lookup for sites like myallamericancare.com and others that have a proven track record to substantiate their quality of service when you choose a home care service agency.
Hospice philosophy of palliative care
Things can really become complicated and confusing especially when the nursing facility is provided at the home of a hospice patient. This is because nursing homes typically have several specific protocols in place for different aspects of care such as:
- Nutritional supplements
- Positioning
- Sharp or chemical debridement
- Frequent wound care and others.
Though these may be feasible in a nursing home setting, these may not be appropriate or comfortable for hospice patients in particular.
It is for this reason the federal regulations state that both the nursing home and hospice staff should coordinate with each other jointly so that they can establish and agree upon a single plan of care.
- This will ensure that there is consistency in the hospice philosophy of palliative care that is primarily designed on the basis of the needs and wishes of the patients.
- This is also necessary because the attending physicians and the nursing home staff possess variable knowledge that is needed to be aligned properly to provide the most effective end-of-life symptom management and the best palliative care.
It is believed that better and continual communication as well as ongoing education on end-of-life care will surely help to ensure that the patient get the best care and have the highest quality of life. It will eventually help in eliminating the unnecessary processes for hospice patients whether treated in the nursing home or their homes.
Palliative care and holistic assessment
Before you what comprises holistic assessment and care you should first know what palliative care is all about and its features.
- According to the World Health Organization, palliative care is defined as the total and active care provided to those patients who are suffering from specific diseases that are not ideally responsive to any curative treatment.
- The goal of palliative care is to achieve the best quality of life and provide the best care to the patients as well as their families, according to WHO.
Hospice care on the other and is the only single model of palliative medicine but to receive palliative care a patient needs not be in a hospice program.
Requirements by the care professionals
Typically, when palliative care is considered to be the most significant guiding philosophy, it is required that the home care professional gives specific attention to a few specific segments of treatment and care such as:
- The prevention of the particular disease the treatment is provided for
- Proper assessment of the conditions and risks to the patient if any due to the disease
- Towards providing proper treatment of pain and other symptoms and most importantly
- Towards providing better and desired psychological, emotional and spiritual support as determined by the patient and their family members.
It is all these factors within which the patient and family members determine the concept of palliative care define it on the basis of different parameters such as:
- The dignity
- The comfort provided and
- Quality of life
- Their personal values
- Cultures
- Needs and
- Wishes.
In order to provide all these to the patients, the home care agencies should carefully design each step of their care program. These steps include:
- Assessment of the disease
- Setting the requisite goals according to the assessment
- Providing proper interventions and care and
- Proper evaluation of the process and progress from time to time.
Having said this, all these require a strategic, immaculately planned collaborative approach from a multidisciplinary team as well as the patients and their family members.
The ideal process to follow
Within this given scenario and requirements of home care, an ideal process should include a psychosocial assessment conducted by a social worker. This assessment should include a proper evaluation of different aspects of the patients as well as their family members such as:
- The lifestyle
- The goals
- The values
- The cognitive functions
- The ability to communicate
- The learning styles
- The social functioning
- The support required and
- Spiritual needs.
In addition to that, it is also required to assess and evaluate the willingness and the ability of the patient as well as their family members to adhere to the individualized treatment plan. Apart from that the care professional, in this case, the nurse, will also need to evaluate the medical and surgical history of the patient along with the lab test results and the medication currently in use.
Conclusion
All these mean that there should be a standardized scale for proper assessment of the pain, disease or wound. This will allow the care professional to determine the effect of the disease on the mobility and physical functioning of the patient and how it has reduced their ability to perform day to day activities of living and design the best care plan required.