The “Next Step in Care” website, nextstepincare.org, has been mentioned in many newspaper articles and by many speakers as a good resource. The site, a program of United Hospital Fund, was “created to make sure transitions in care – moving patients from one setting to another – are safe and smooth because chronically ill patients move frequently between health care settings, and these transitions should be carefully planned and coordinated.” Adding in-home care is viewed as a “transition in care.” The site provides guides and checklists for family caregivers and healthcare professionals.
Recently, Brain Support Network volunteer Denise Dagan took a look at the website. Here’s what she had to say about it.
Robin
—————————
Notes about
Next Step in Care (nextstepincare.org)
According to the website: “Family caregivers are essential to successful transitions, yet they are often left out of planning and poorly prepared to take on new, complex, and demanding tasks and responsibilities. Next Step in Care provides practical advice and easy-to-use guides that focus on transitions between hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes and home to improve transfer quality and safety, and reduce unnecessary re-hospitalizations.”
I heard a rule of thumb recently from a Stanford doctor who said if a person is readmitted to the hospital within 30 days, that transition to home is considered unsuccessful in his mind. It could have been better planned and executed. A properly planned and executed health care transition is less stressful for everybody. Next Step in Care is wise enough to know that hinges on the family having access to relevant information.
Here are the great things on this website, nextstepincare.org:
1. You can search the type of transition your family will be dealing with and find Family Caregiver Guides with relevant information. By the time you read through the recommended Guides for that type of transition, you will be better prepared to participate in the process.
2. The Family Caregivers Guides are also easy to find from a well organized index. The index and the Guides are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian, with text size adjustment! You can print, email and save to your computer every Guide on the website. Share them with everyone on your caregiving team, so everyone is better prepared.
3. The Family Caregiver Guides cover all relevant transition care topics, even LGBT Caregiving.
4. There is a Video section with instruction for these common caregiving situations: Medication Management (including Giving Insulin Injections), Dementia & Delirium, and Palliative Care.
– Denise