Palliative Home Health Care |
 |
|
When a serious illness or deteriorating health causes pain or other problems, Palliative Home Health Care offers extra professional care and support to maximize comfort and quality of life, while patients and their doctors continue to work toward a cure or manage their condition. It also supports family members with education, communication or help obtaining other resources.
Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is different from hospice in several ways. Palliative care:
- Can be provided anytime during a serious illness and regardless of prognosis.
- Is more flexible than hospice in terms of treatment goals and is available to patients who are seeking or receiving treatments to cure the illness or go into remission.
- May be short or long term.
Individualized Care From a Team
Our Palliative Home Health Care team is specially trained in providing home health services that address the unique needs of people with serious illnesses and that support family members. Care is based on the patient’s needs and wishes, and guidance from the patient’s physician.
Each patient has a registered nurse case manager. Other team members who are available as needed include a social worker, home health aide, physical and occupational therapists, chaplain, lymphedema specialist, advanced practice nurse and consulting physician.
Care includes:
- Expert treatment of pain and other symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, constipation, loss of appetite or difficulty sleeping.
- Education on medications, the disease process and symptoms.
- On-call nurses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for questions and visits.
- Emotional and spiritual support for patients and family members.
- Connecting patients and families to additional resources if needed.
- Helping families understand the best way they can assist.
- Communicating with the patient’s physicians and other health care providers to coordinate care.
- Discussing choices for care and exploring goals of patients and their families.
- Assistance with transitions, such as to hospice if needed, or back to their own daily routine if they no longer need our services.
Patients may go back to the hospital if desired. Patients with any potentially life-threatening diagnosis are eligible for Palliative Home Health Care. We frequently serve patients who have cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS or other chronic diseases with flare-ups.
How Care Begins
Care starts with a phone call from the patient’s physician, a hospital staff member, a family member or the patient. Call 816-363-2600 to discuss how Palliative Home Health Care can help. Or, contact us online. With the agreement of the patient’s physician, services can start immediately or as soon as the patient is ready.
Payment
When a patient meets the criteria, services are funded through the home health benefits under Medicare, Medicaid and some private insurance policies. We work with patients who are uninsured or have limited resources to make sure they receive the care they need.
Download the Palliative Home Health Care brochure. |
|
|
 |
|
|
