Intervention With Informal Caregivers Of Hospice Patients

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

The authors intended to demonstrate and examine whether or not a “guided self-help intervention reduces anxiety in palliative patients, and whether training palliative nurses to deliver guided self-help would improve their routine management of psychological distress.” (Galfin et al., 2011, p. 119-120).

Over the past five weeks, I have learned what palliative care really is all about. I found that there were areas that really changed my perspective as well, about what palliative care is. Some of these include, but are not limited to, when palliative care is used, how difficult is can be to get patients the pain management they need, as well as how many different complimentary therapies are available to patients.

In contrast to the costs of standard medical care, hospice care provides an alternative that is both cost effective and caring. Unfortunately, it is actually difficult to quantify the cost savings associated with hospice care due to the fact that comparing costs during the last year of life are impacted by the variability in the length of hospice use. A study at Duke University went to extensive lengths to provide a comparison that provided an effective method for accurate comparisons. The comparison showed a reduced average Medicare expenditure of $2,309 per person from the time hospice care was initiated in comparison to the same situation handled through standard medical methods (Taylor, Ostermann, Houtven, Tulsky, & Steinhauser, 2007). The amount of cost savings varied depending on the primary health condition and the

The alternative in providing care for a dependent family member is keeping them in their own home, or the home of a family member. In recent years there has been a move in market place to an idea that is much more cost effective to provide most of the same services that traditionally found in a long-term care facility in the home. It is estimated that providing these services in the home are approximately $21,800.00 a year. It is also important that these figures only cover the cost of providing skilled health care. These figures do not cover additional expenses occurred in the home such as the cost of room and board. In many instances, the idea of keeping family members in the home where their care, may be more closely supervised is becoming increasingly appealing. Many health care providers are recognizing this and providing more and more services available in the home. In today’s market place anyone can find nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and respiratory therapy companies

This article can be used as a way to further support my argument about how most patients don’t utilize all of the benefits that hospice has to offer. There are some cases where people choose not to receive spiritual support due to

Hospice is compassionate care provided to patients facing terminal illness or illness for which there is no cure. These patients are diagnosed with an illness from which they will never recover and usually have a life prognosis of six months or less (Hospice Foundation of America, 2014). The goal of hospice care is improving quality of life and managing the symptoms of disease and the dying process. The care hospice offers is focused on pain management and emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and family (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2012). Hospice care can be provided in many different settings, often the patient’s own home. Hospice care can also be provided in hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and free-standing hospice centers and is available to patients of all ages (NHPCO, 2012). A patient receiving care in a hospice program has a team of healthcare individuals that can consist of the patients own physician, nurses, home health aides, clergy, social workers, and speech and physical therapists (NHPCO, 2012). Usually, a care plan is developed by the hospice team and care of the patient is provided by family members with the support of the hospice staff (NHPCO, 2012). Nurses make regular visits to the patient and family and are on call 24/7. Once enrolled in a hospice program hospice covers everything that will be needed to care for you, from medications to manage pain to

The doctors were pretty sure that Pierre had less than 6 months to live, so he fell well within the guidelines for hospice coverage. Should hospice coverage be limited to those with 6 months or less to live, or should other be covered? 6 months is a random figure and I think that the covering other could help families deal with hospice care a little better; it would give them a better understanding of what hospice-type services is entailed. It also could be too expensive for covering others and how can you know for sure if 6 months is suitable.

Have you ever gone to the Doctors before? The person who weighed you and took your temperature before you got to see the doctor was a nurse. A Nurse is – (verb) 1 to take care of (as a young child or a sick person) 2 to treat with special care ("Webster's dictionary & thesauras for students”). One thing I knew before I started researching is there are many different kinds of nursing. In this paper I will be exploring two different branches of nursing Hospice and Home Health Care.

Hospice psychologist work is to conduct some research to understand the psychological aspects of caring terminally ill patients and their families.

In home health care, the patient is assessed to determine what types of services are needed such as skilled nursing care, therapy, home health aide services, and medical social services. The case mix adjustment is based on this assessment along with the patient's current condition. There are 153 case-mix groups that the patient can be classified under. In a skilled nursing facility the case-mix adjustment is assigned based on the resident's assessment along with the relative weights staff time data associated with their care. In a skilled nursing facility the PPS also allows for a geographical adjustment based on the hospital wage index for the facility's location. There is also a three-year transition adjustment that is part of the PPS for skilled nursing facilities. This a blend of the facility-specific payment rate and the federal case mix adjusted rate. Home health care PPS does not allow for this transition adjustment or the geographical adjustment. Instead there are adjustments for outlier payments, beneficiaries who only need a few visits, and beneficiaries who are readmitted within the 60-day episode. If a beneficiary only requires four or fewer visits during the 60-day episode, the PPS will be based on a standardized, service-specific per-visit amount that is multiplied by the number of

The advantages of this approach are that it could lend insight and a new perspective on Ellen’s condition and it drives deeper into the individual’s unconscious due to its longer duration of therapy (as compared to other therapies). Interpersonal psychotherapy has often effectively treated depression, especially cases of mild depression.

“Shared Presence Caring for a Dying Spouse” portrays a true image on what are some of the reactions and feelings a spouse undergoes while taking care of their own dying spouse. The article establishes the gift of presence and establishes the value of human senses- sight, hearing, smell, taste and lastly but not the least, touch. When one reads the article, myriad nursing theories are hidden inside for one to dig through. Firstly, the scope of theory used in the article, “Shared Presence Caring for a Dying Spouse” is Practice Theories. Scope of theory “includes its level of specificity and the concreteness of its concept and propositions. (text book)” Practice Theories are “more specific than middle range theories and produces specific directions

In your post, you had mention that the EBP “plays a vital role” “provide adequate resources” and with these resources “team members are able to best implement new practices of care.”

Researchers indicated that such a setting is not just cost-effective, but group settings offer the participants the opportunity to communicate with peers who share identifiable commonalities. Additionally, a cohesive collaboration of activities, such as problem solving games, encouraged the individuals to support each other for the reinforcement of success and achievement. The benefits of group therapy offer participants the chance to relax while learning new skills and, perhaps, build new bonds with other students that may not have otherwise been possible (Down, Willner, Watts & Griffiths, 2011; Zhaleh, Zarbakhsh & Faramarzi, 2014; Wisdom, Rees, Riley & Weis, 2007; Trip, Vernon & McMahon, 2007; Turner & Barker, 2013; Trip et al., 2015; Henter & Chifor,