Questions And Answers
What areas do you cover and how often should residential care facilities expect to see you?
The RCT at the Otago Hospice cover all of the Otago region. This includes areas in North, South, and Central Otago as well as Dunedin.
A large proportion of our visits are to hospital level care facilities but we also provide support to rest home level, dementia level and supported living facilities such as IDEA services, PACT homes.
We will go to any facility where there is someone needing palliative care support.
We adapt our visits based on referrals, residents needs and what best suits the facility we are visiting.
Do we need to do what you suggest or recommend?
No, BUT:
We spend quite some time assessing residents who have been referred. This includes reviewing medical history, medications, checking blood test results or other investigations, goals of care documents and care plans. When visiting the resident for the first time, we try and conduct a thorough assessment and discuss with them what their needs and concerns are.
If we feel a bit out of our depth as the resident we are seeing has complex problems, we consult amongst our team members and also seek additional advice from one of our specialist palliative care doctors.
We are always keen to discuss our findings with the staff caring for the resident to confirm our assessment is similar to what the staff see on an everyday basis. We also often update the GP or other medical team members of our visit and recommendations.
Therefore we work hard to ensure any recommendations we make are collaborative, based on a comprehensive assessment and are practical.
Our goal is to try and meet the residents' needs and develop a plan that is acceptable to them and their family/whānau.
QUIZ questions!!
What is the name of the care pathway you can use to guide end of life care?
Where can you find more information about how to discuss Shared Goals of Care?
Name three different types of opioids?
What are two types of medications that should always be prescribed if someone starts on a opioid?
What are the four elements of a persons wellbeing or health that should be considered when completing an holistic assessment?
(Answers can be found at the end of the newsletter)
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