Category: Caregiving

Guest Post: Making the MOLST of Your Life

By: Jeanne M. Ryan, MA, OTR, MBA, CHCE
Executive Director VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson

According to the Massachusetts Expert Panel on End-of-Life Care:

“What people want and need as the end of life approaches are things that have mattered to them throughout life, often now more intensely then ever: that their wishes and values are respected, that their symptoms are well controlled; that their dignity is maintained; and that they can spend as much meaningful time as possible with those they most love”.

And while 70 percent of Americans say they wish to die at home, surrounded by family, in Massachusetts the reality is exactly reversed: More than 70 percent die in hospitals or nursing homes, often spending their last days or weeks attached to high-tech life support machines. The choices that patients and their families make about care at this stage of life are extremely personal, but can only be made well if the full range of options is presented, explored, and considered with each patient individually. Continue reading “Guest Post: Making the MOLST of Your Life”

Boston Children’s Hospital Releases Educational Videos for Families, Providers

A series of educational videos for patients, families and healthcare providers is being promoted by Boston Children’s Hospital regarding care of a central line in order to help decrease the number of CLABSI (Central Line-associated Blood Stream Infections).

Especially for agencies specializing in pediatric home health care, but applicable for all, these videos are a useful educational tool. The Alliance also posted the link on our Facebook page and encourage home care agencies to pass them along to patients and families that could be benefited.

More educational videos for home care agencies and family caregivers created by the Home Care Alliance are available on the Caregiver Video Resource Center that can also be found at our Home Care Month Webpage.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Regional Trainings on MOLST Being Held

For those home health agencies looking to implement or simply learn more about MOLST (Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment), the MOLST outreach and education team is hosting a series of regional meetings detailed below.

The Region 3 meeting will be held on November 18 at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, MA.  Click here to register.  Registration will close on November 13.

The Region 4 meeting will be held on December 6 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA.  Click here to register.  Registration will close on November 29.

The Region 5 meeting will be held on November 13 at New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, MA.  Click here to register.  There are just a few seats left.  Registration will close this Wednesday, November 6.

If you are (or will be) involved in implementing MOLST at your institution, or involved in training others about MOLST, come to these meetings to:

•    Learn more about MOLST
•    Become familiar with the MOLST process in order to communicate and honor your patients’ life-sustaining treatment decisions
•    Understand how to use available MOLST resources for implementation, including across the continuum of care

More information is available on the MOLST website.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Alzheimer’s Association Holding Training for Direct Care Staff

The Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association is hosting a series of educational seminars for direct care staff and the Home Care Alliance encourages those interested to participate.

The format is a train the trainer model created to prepare attendees, already familiar with Alzheimer’s and dementia care, to train direct care staff in a wide array of care settings, including home care.

Here are the details:

Caring for People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Habilitation Training Curriculum Date of next Training:

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Alzheimer’s Association, 480 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472

The curriculum is a train the trainer model created to prepare attendees, already familiar with Alzheimer’s and dementia care, to train direct care staff in a wide array of care settings. The 7 hour training teaches attendees the 13 hour curriculum in best Habilitation Therapy practices. Modules include a PowerPoint presentation, discussion activities, lecture, and demonstration, role-play and group work. Continue reading “Alzheimer’s Association Holding Training for Direct Care Staff”

Home Care & Telemedicine

NPR’s Talk of the Nation had a lengthy segment on the growing use of telemedicine, especially in home care.  In addition discussing the benefits to patients with limited mobility or access to specific services they need and Medicare’s current refusal to reimburse for remote doctor consultations, the segment included a letter from the Alliance’s own James Fuccione, starting at 19’09”:

[HOST NEAL] CONAN: Here’s an email question that has some aspects of that that I wanted to ask you about, this from James [Fuccione] in Massachusetts: The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts is advocating for Mass Health, [the] state Medicaid program, reimbursement of telehealth used by home health agencies.

Many agencies part of our association use telehealth already because it improves their quality and efficiency. They use wireless weight scales, blood oximeter, blood pressure cuffs, et cetera, and depending on their condition. So in other words you can collect data over these same circuits.

[DR. KAREN] EDISON: Right.

CONAN: Do you use that as well?

EDISON: Yes, so we do a lot of telehome care and remote monitoring here in Missouri. One of our large home health agencies in the southwest part of the state is probably the leader in that area. One of the challenges, of course, is the inter-operability of the health information systems. So as health information technology matures, and the companies become more inter-operable, they can talk to each other and transmit information easily.

You know, as that gets – as that whole industry matures, this is going to get easier and easier so that instead of the home health agency monitoring those patients, actually the patients – patient-centered health care home or medical home, their actual health providers would be monitoring those patients on a daily basis.

You may download the entire show by clicking here.

Caregiver Videos: Using Home Care As A Supplement to Family Care

In the eighth video in our series for family caregivers, Lynda Giovanello of Walpole Area VNA discusses how home care can be used to supplement — not replace — care from family members.

To view the full series, visit our YouTube channel.  To access library of hundreds of care giver resources on a variety of subjects, visit www.eldercareskills.org, who produced the videos with us.
Continue reading “Caregiver Videos: Using Home Care As A Supplement to Family Care”

Congratulations to the 2013 Star Award Winners

Each year, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts honors the best and brightest in caregiving and home care management. This video of the 2013 winners played at our award ceremony on May 1, 2013.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Best Around the Home Care Web V

Healing After the Bombings

Victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing have a lengthy road to recovery:

Cost of amputating a leg? At least $20,000. Cost of an artificial leg? More than $50,000 for the most high-tech models. Cost of an amputee’s rehab? Often tens of thousands of dollars more.

These are just a fraction of the medical expenses victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will face.

The mammoth price tag is probably not what patients are focusing on as they begin the long healing process. But friends and strangers are already setting up fundraisers and online crowd-funding sites, and a huge Boston city fund has already collected more than $23 million in individual and corporate donations. — via Winnipeg Free Press

The piece also discusses how a number of state and local charities have created funds to help pay for the hospital bills, prosthetics, and rehabilitation.  Dozens of home care agencies have also donated their services to the victims.

Still Open: 2013 State of the Home Care Industry Study

The National State of the Home Care Industry survey is conducted through 20 minutes phone interviews with senior managers scheduled at times that are convenient for you. It will address current practices and future strategies in the areas of IS/EHR, telehealth, new health care models and operations.

Participating agencies will be among the first to receive in-depth reports plus strategic recommendations from the findings. The results will also include insights into what practices the top agencies, those with the best financial and quality outcomes, are using and planning.

The Study is sponsored by NAHC, CHAP, The Joint Commission, the Forum of State Associations, Delta Health Technologies, HealthWyse and Fazzi Associates. Results are expected to be released in late May or early June of this year. — via HCAF.

The survey is open to all Medicare Certified agencies with revenue >$500,000, and at least two Home Health Compare scores.

Continue reading “Best Around the Home Care Web V”

Caregiver Videos: Introduction to Occupational Therapy

In the seventh video in our series for family caregivers, Geoffrey Abraskin, PT, DPT of Amedisys Home Health & Hospice Care discusses what Occupational Therapy is and how it can be used in a home care setting.

To view the full series, visit our YouTube channel.  To access library of hundreds of care giver resources on a variety of subjects, visit www.eldercareskills.org, who produced the videos with us.
Continue reading “Caregiver Videos: Introduction to Occupational Therapy”

Home Care Agencies Donate Services to Boston Marathon Bombing Victims

BostonStrongRibbon.jpgHome care agencies are pitching in to help those injured in the Boston Marathon bombing by donating personal care services to victims whenever they are discharged from the city’s hospitals.

The Home Care Alliance is coordinating the volunteer effort that currently includes 55 agencies collectively providing coverage to the entire state. So, no matter where in

Massachusetts one of the affected people may live, an agency stands ready to help their transition back home.

The Home Care Alliance has notified all Boston hospitals and has provided the list of agencies donating services to staff at those facilities. Many have already been discharged from hospitals and the Alliance hopes that those people can also be aware that they have access to these donated services as well.

A special webpage listing the volunteer agencies has been set up and anyone hurt by the Marathon bombing that can benefit from free personal care can contact these agencies, but HCA also encourages hospitals to make the list available to patients as well.

The Home Care Alliance and its member agencies are proud to help those affected through a difficult time and hope they can take advantage of the compassionate care provided by agencies across the state.

Any hospitals or families impacted by the events of this past week can contact the Home Care Alliance for further details.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.