Innovative Models for Palliative Care
For the Carmelite Sisters, establishing a formalized Palliative Care Program involves three critical pieces: providing education, using a team approach, and assessing for the five domains of pain. All persons served by the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm receive palliative care upon admission to a facility. This interdisciplinary method involves caring for the whole person, not just their physical needs. The holistic approach assesses and provides care for the physical, social, familial, psychiatric, and emotional pains a person may experience when faced with life altering illnesses and situations. The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and their education arm, the Avila Institute of Gerontology, have collaborated to develop an implementation guide to aid in the establishment of a formalized palliative care program within long-term care facilities. The program was developed through a series of pilot studies and revisions were based on the results of these pilot studies. This program is flexible, and can be tailored to meet the needs of each facility.
This resource is shared with permission from the Avila Institute of Gerontology, Inc.
The number of in-home palliative care programs are increasing often due to innovative payer-provider partnerships such as the one created by Blue Shield of California. To learn more about these models watch our webinar with Torrie Fields (SCC members only) and review the research articles linked below based on studies conducted by Kaiser Permanente and Sharp Health.