Tag: MOLST

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”

MOLST Technical Assistance Calls Planned for Certified Home Health Agencies

The Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) process and medical order form were developed to ensure that persons with advanced illness will have their decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments known, communicated and honored across Massachusetts.  Health care institutions throughout the Commonwealth are currently in various stages of implementing the use of MOLST with suitable patients.

In order to assist certified home health agencies to prepare for MOLST, the MOLST Team is scheduling technical assistance calls on the following dates:

  • February 25, from 1:00 – 2:00pm
  • March 18, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm

You may register for one of these calls by going to the MOLST website (www.MOLST-MA.org).  There you’ll also learn about the steps involved in MOLST implementation, and will find many tools for preparing your home care agency for the use of MOLST with patients.

The one-hour technical assistance conference call will provide participants with an opportunity to ask questions about MOLST, clarify concerns, and share with other callers whatever progress you’ve already made with MOLST implementation at your agency.

Registrants are strongly encouraged to review the MOLST Implementation Training available on line at http://www.molst-ma.org/molst-training-line and to download the Implementation Toolkit available at http://www.molst-ma.org/tool-kit-implementing-molst-institutions before participating in the conference call.

In order to have MOLST in place at your agency by the end of this year, now is the time to begin the implementation process.  Take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about MOLST, and register for an upcoming MOLST technical assistance call for certified home health agencies!

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.