Making the transition from curative care to a type of care that is more palliative in nature, such as moving from home health to Hospice, can be an emotionally challenging experience for the patient, their entire family and support system. Many families find this transition between the two types of care disheartening, confusing, and even scary, a great deal of which is the result of misinformation about Hospice care overall. At any rate, whether it's misinformation or simply not wanting to accept a diagnosis, moving from one type of care to the other can be difficult, not only for the patients but for their families, and their support systems as well. At Doctor’s Choice Home Care & Hospice, we have created a program purposefully designed to make this transition easier, our Advanced Illness Management Program, known simply as AIM.
Many times, patients are not ready emotionally, spiritually, or even physically for the more extensive care that Hospice provides. In these cases, we recommend patients enter into AIM as an easy way to transition between the types of care, moving from curative to comfort. AIM provides help not only to patients as they near the end of their physical battle with an illness, by offering symptom management, but it also provides help for families as they move into end-of-life decisions like an Advanced Directive or a Hospital DNR.
It is immensely important for patients to let their final wishes be known, and AIM allows them to share their preferences with their families, even guiding them through the creation of these plans. In fact, once in the AIM program, the matter of an Advance Directive will be addressed within one week. This is a written statement that outlines a patient’s wishes regarding medical treatments and could include a living will. It is the stand-in for the patient when they become unable to speak for themselves. The Hospital DNR, which is a directive made by the patient on life-saving medical interventions, should be outlined within 30 days.
The AIM program effectively brings these two different types of at-home medical care together to help ease the transition from curative care to keeping a patient comfortable. It also includes the coming together of an entire collaborative team, which could include the patient’s physician, and others to tailor treatment to meet patient-specific goals. Patients and their families are encouraged to communicate specific cultural, emotional, or spiritual needs as together they move toward Hospice care. It can also encourage earlier usage of Hospice, allowing this type of care to begin sooner than some patients believe they qualify. The idea is to bring these two services together and utilize the strength of each discipline to achieve a common goal, which is a focused, multidisciplinary approach to pain and symptom management.
Home Health is curative in nature and designed to provide skilled nursing services to homebound patients who are recovering from surgery or have chronic illnesses. These patients do not have to be terminal to qualify. This service often involves helping patients recover and regain independence at home.
There are four main aspects of Hospice Care, with routine care being the most common. This includes a team of skilled professionals, such as social workers, volunteers, hospice aides, nurses, and more coming together to offer end-of-life assistance to keep patients as comfortable as possible as they move into the end stages of their disease. This is not curative care, but instead focused on keeping patients as comfortable and pain-free as possible and helping them and their families with any end-of-life planning or counseling they might need.
For patients to qualify for the AIM program, they should be referred to Doctor’s Choice by a facility, the community, an agency patient, or a physician, and they should be most likely to pass away in between 6–12 months’ time. These patients will be served under skilled home health services with a special emphasis on advanced care planning. Patients should also be homebound and in need of skilled care. Qualifying diagnoses that are good candidates include patients with the following conditions or diagnoses:
If you think your loved one or friend might be an ideal candidate for the Advanced Illness Management AIM Program at Doctor’s Choice Home Care & Hospice, contact us today to learn more about your next steps. We look forward to speaking with you and communicating the value of our programs and how they can positively enhance the end-of-life experience for patients facing an advanced, terminal diagnosis. At Doctor’s Choice, our core values are courage, compassion, and commitment, and we proudly provide professional care to patients, families, friends, and more. We are also proud to serve our community and offer hospital-to-home transition, chronic illness management, and much more, helping patients achieve their highest level of comfort and health when at home.
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