Patient & Family Services
Anticipatory grief is one way people react to the knowledge that a life-changing loss will happen in the near future. Although not everyone will experience anticipatory grief, for those who do, it's a normal response to the sadness and uncertainty that impending loss brings to both the present and the future.
Grief Counseling
Anticipatory grief is one way people react to the knowledge that a life-changing loss will happen in the near future. Although not everyone will experience anticipatory grief, for those who do, it's a normal response to the sadness and uncertainty that impending loss brings to both the present and the future. Family Grief Counseling is a free service offered for those who are on hospice. Grief counseling can be requested any time during hospice service and is available for caregivers and family up to one year after a patient passes.
Hospice Volunteer Support
Volunteers can offer caregiver respite and companionship for patients, thereby lessening the demands on the caregivers. Volunteers can assist with tasks such as light housework, reading, playing games with the patient, or assisting during meals. Volunteers are an important resource used in deterring caregiver burnout.
Volunteer candidates are required to have a background check as well as a minimum of 12 hours of professional training to meet Medicare standards. iCare additionally requires Inservice training targeted at meeting the specialized needs of families resulting in a more effective volunteer match.
Volunteer services are reviewed during Hospice Assessments, but caregivers may call and ask for the Volunteer Coordinator to initiate volunteer services at any time.
Respite Care
Respite care is short-term, in-patient care, designed to give family caregivers an occasional break to re-charge and rejuvenate. In many cases, Medicare benefits pay for patient transport and up to five (5) consecutive days of in-patient care at a Medicare-approved nursing home, hospital, or hospice facility. You can use respite care more than once, but only once during each benefit period. In case the term “benefit period” is unfamiliar, it refers to a 90-day period of care that your loved one can receive before they must re-certify that they are still eligible for hospice care.
Family Support
The Social Worker can play a vital role in relieving caregiver burden by:
· Assisting with forms for an advance directive, do not resuscitate (DNR) order or a physician order for life-sustaining treatment (POLST).
· Contacting organizations that offer resources that your family could benefit from, such as Meals-on-Wheels or Life Alert®.
· Assisting in filling out and filing insurance, Medicare and Medicaid paperwork.
· Arranging for respite
· Help with funeral planning.
The Chaplain is an astute listener who is professionally trained to identify signs of emotional or spiritual conflict, such as grief, fear, or unresolved business whereby they facilitate a supportive environment that enables greater well-being. The Social Worker and Chaplain may overlap in providing emotional support, but the social worker identifies support services and will often be thinking in terms of one’s future needs. A chaplain’s primary role is to be with an individual in the present lending validation and support in the moment which positively impacts one’s coping processes for the patient and their caregivers.
Support Groups are extremely helpful for individuals looking for better coping skills and helpful caregiving tools. iCare teams with Mountainland Aging in sponsoring a free caregiver support luncheon every first Wednesday of the month. For a list of support group options: https://magutah.org/supportgroups/
Community Resource Partners
Mountainland Aging Resources
Utah Senior Companions
https://www.utahseniorcorps.org/senior-companion-program
Utah County Senior Center listings
https://www.countyoffice.org/ut-utah-county-senior-center/Adult
Daycare services in Utah County
https://www.caring.com/senior-living/adult-day-care/utah/utah-county
Private Care Resources
https://www.caring.com/senior-care/in-home-care/utah/utah-county
Caregiver’s Assistive Technology and Equipment https://mountainland.org/guide/search/?term=assistive+technology
Funeral Resources
https://mountainland.org/guide/c/funeral-services/
Caregiver FAQ’s
Home health is a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant-ordered service designed to help patients improve their ability to function safely at home by teaching patients and their caregivers how to provide effective, appropriate care. Symptom management, medication management, mobility and home safety issues are among the many needs covered.
How do I get this service? Can I call in my own referral?
We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the many services we provide. However, we must have an order from a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant to provide care. Talk to your doctor or other healthcare provider about your need for home-based services.
Who can use home health services?
Home health services are specifically designed to deal with acute medical changes in a patient’s condition. These changes can relate to a worsening of a long-standing diagnosis, a new diagnosis, or a need for support during recovery from a serious illness, injury or surgery.
How do I qualify for home health care?
Your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant must determine your need for home-based care and write an order for the care. Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance companies have homebound and skilled needs requirements that must be met to in order for them to cover home health care.
Is this 24-hour continuous care?
No. All care is intermittent, with the frequency of visits determined by the doctor and home health clinician. Typically, visits are about 30 to 45 minutes long, two to three times a week. Appointment times are approximate. If constant supervision or care is what you need, we can help provide referrals to services that offer this level of care.
Care can be provided where you live, whether that is your house or a family member’s, an adult family home, assisted living or retirement home. Home health cannot be provided in a hospital or nursing home (although hospice services can be provided at these locations).
Once services have begun, how long will they continue?
Home health services continue as long as medically necessary, based on the assessment of the nursing or therapy case manager, your doctor and your progress.
What is paid for by Medicare and Medicaid?
Medicare pays for home health services under Part A benefits at 100 percent when the patient is eligible for service and meets the criteria for admission. Medicaid coverage of home health services is subject to the limitations of the medical program identified on your Medical ID card. We will verify your coverage before our first visit.
What about private insurance or DSHS coupons?
Private insurance coverage differs from contract to contract. You will know what the cost will be before service begins.
I've heard that Medicare will pay for "skilled care." What is "skilled care"?
Medicare regulations define skilled care as services that must be performed by a health care professional that are reasonable and necessary for the treatment of your illness or injury. For example, after a hip replacement, the skills of a physical therapist will be necessary to help your recovery. Our team will work with you and your doctor to determine the kind of skilled care you will need.
Will Medicare pay for someone to assist me with my personal care and recovery at home?
If you are receiving skilled services from a nurse or therapist, Medicare will allow a home health aide to assist with your personal care and recovery needs on an intermittent basis.
That type of care is considered non-skilled, or custodial, care and is not covered by Medicare, although sometimes it is covered by private insurance or Medicaid. We can help you research the availability of private insurance or Medicaid coverage for those services.
What about Medicare supplements?
Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA) is the best resource to ask about Medicare supplemental insurance. This is a statewide network of trained volunteers who educate, assist and serve people who have Medicare. SHIBA can be contacted at 800-397-4422.
Hospice care
Hospice refers to a range of care services that focus on comfort rather than cure, and embraces patients, families and caregivers as patients reach the end of their life. Comfort care, from the hospice perspective, includes managing physical symptoms to maintain quality of life and manage pain, as well as meeting the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Our program emphasizes living life as fully and comfortably as possible.
What is the difference between hospice and palliative care?
Palliative care and hospice care have many similarities, and both share the goal of providing comfort and improving quality of life. However, hospice care is only available for those facing a life-threatening illness who choose to stop any life-prolonging treatment. Palliative care can be provided to patients at any stage of their illness or treatment.
Who makes the decision about entering hospice and when should it be made?
By law, the decision belongs to the patient. If the patient is incapacitated, the Power of Attorney or legal guardian may decide. Any time during a life-limiting illness can be an appropriate time to discuss all of a patient’s care options, including hospice, with the patient’s doctor. You do not need a doctor’s referral in order to receive hospice services. If you don’t have a referral, a provider will need to certify that the patient has six months or less to live.
What if a patient shows signs of recovery?
If the patient’s condition improves and the patient’s doctor agrees that the disease seems to be in remission, they can return to curative therapy or continue on with their daily life.
What does the hospice admission process involve?
The process begins a doctor’s statement that the patient’s life expectancy is six months or less and that the patient has made a decision to seek comfort care only. If the diagnosis is not cancer, the patient must meet Medicare/Medicaid criteria to have hospice services covered (most private insurance agencies use similar criteria). Finally, there must be a caregiver in place or there must be a plan to acquire one when necessary.
Is this 24-hour continuous care?
No. All care is intermittent, with the frequency of visits determined by your needs, your doctor and hospice staff. We can provide information about services that offer this level of care, if you or your family needs help in this area. Then, you can determine which agency is the best fit.
Does hospice do anything to make death come sooner?
No. A hospice program can do nothing either to speed up or to slow down the dying process.
Does a patient need to be at home to receive services?
No. Our hospice services are available for patients at home, in nursing homes, retirement homes, adult family homes, anywhere the patient resides.
Is hospice care covered by insurance?
Hospice care coverage is provided by Medicare, Medicaid and by most private health insurance policies. Medicare and/or Medicaid are the most frequent sources of payment. Both will pay for medication relating to the terminal diagnosis, equipment needed for comfort and safety (typically a hospital bed, bedside commode and wheelchair) and the services of the hospice team. To be sure of coverage, families should, of course, check with their health insurance provider.
Referral sources include doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, friends, neighbors and patients. While a doctors’s order not is required to receive these services, a provider will need to certify that the patient has six months or less to live.
Do you provide any help to the family after the patient dies?
Hospice provides continuing contact and support for family and friends for at least a year following the death of a loved one. We also sponsor grief and bereavement groups.
Education Center
Helpful Caregiver Education Introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUjOarB8XUc
Transfer Skills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB0uPouIcXo
Nutrition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrNpX913KkE
Dental and Oral Health https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFG1jtf6Zdg
Bathing and Dressing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvQtjY3-bcE
Toileting and Incontinence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DvYE12CM0c
Behavioral Issues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDOJxKxNKsI
Caregiver Self-Care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi_gYDUfOKI
Free in-depth caregiver education can be found on the Alzheimers Association web site https://training.alz.org/
Hospice Care
Tips on what to expect and helpful tools for caregivers webinar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VOC05J9wP4
The Role of the Social Worker in Hospice Care: attach interview with Burt
The Role of the Chaplain in Hospice Care: attach interview with Rosalind