RICHMOND —
Question: My mother moved into a nursing home recently. The staff invited me to her care plan conference. What is a care plan?
Answer: Developed during the care planning conference, the care plan is an arrangement for how the staff will care for your mother and meet her individual needs and wishes. The nursing home must assess your mother’s needs, interests and level of care. These assessments are the basis for planning her care. Care plans are reviewed every three months and revised when your mother’s needs change. A properly implemented care plan can improve your mother’s experience at the nursing home.
Question: If the nursing home staff has completed the assessments and they have determined what needs to be done to care for Mother, why do Mother and I need to go to a care plan conference?
Answer:Your mother’s role as resident during the conference is to help the staff get to know her. She can talk about her needs, interests and how she feels about being a resident of the facility. It is important for the staff to understand her strengths (physical, social, spiritual), daily routines, abilities, expectations and preferences.
Sometimes residents are unable to communicate this information during a conference and their family or legal representative is invited to attend the care plan meeting. This is a good time to discuss medications, personal care, staff, activities, food and restraints. Be sure to talk about what your mother needs and how she feels. A successful care planning conference involves many people including: your mother, you (if your mother would like you to be there), and an interdisciplinary team which includes the physician, nurse, social worker, nurse assistants, pharmacist, therapists and others as needed.
You and your mother can bring up problems, ask questions or offer information to help staff provide individualized care. You and your mother can review your mother’s assessments and records at the nursing home prior to the care plan conference.
Question:Mother has not been happy that the staff wakes her up and gets her out of bed at 5 a.m. I’ve mentioned it to the nurses and nothing seems to change. I don’t think they are listening to us. I’m not sure if going to a care plan conference will make a difference. Is there anyone who can help us?
Answer: Yes! The ombudsman can help you. Many residents and families ask the ombudsman to attend the care planning conference with them. Each resident in the 17-county Bluegrass area of Central Kentucky has access to certified long term care ombudsmen from the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass (NHOA). If you don’t know the ombudsman, just call NHOA toll free at 1-877-787-0077.
The ombudsman can meet with your mother and you prior to the conference and help plan a personalized agenda for the meeting. The ombudsman can help review medical records and assessments, formulate questions about prescribed treatments, identify concerns and goals to be discussed at the conference. The ombudsman can help you and your mother understand her rights as a resident and how to exercise those rights as she participates in the planning of her care. The ombudsman can advocate on your mother’s behalf. Before the end of the care plan conference, remember to ask for a copy of the care plan and the name of the staff member to talk to if something on the care plan needs to be changed.
Question:What happens after the care plan conference?
Answer:After the conference, it is important to monitor the implementation of the care plan. Are the activities in the care plan carried out as agreed? Is the plan of care meeting your mother’s needs and goals? Talk with the facility staff or ombudsman if things are not going as planned, there are problems, or the plan needs to be adjusted.
Question: Where can I get more information about care planning?
Answer:Just call the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency toll free at 1-877-787-0077. We have a new guide to long-term care for residents and families and other materials which describe care planning, and rights and problem solving in more detail. Many families and residents utilize our materials. We are happy to send you materials or you may access them at www.ombuddy.org.
This column is presented as a public service of this newspaper and the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass. If you have a question, send it to Sherry Culp, NHOA, 1530 Nicholasville Rd., Lexington, KY, 40503 or visit www.ombuddy.org.
Lifestyles & Community
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What’s your question about nursing homes?
What’s your question about nursing homes?
A care plan is a helpful tool
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Happy are they who finish what they start
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.
— Psalm 144:15 -
Looking at various things
During my eight years away from home (Richmond and Madison County) the post office tower was a beacon welcoming me home.
Today, the the stone edifice completed in the 1892 as a post office and federal courthouse is the Madison Hall of Justice. -
Things are different than when we were young
I was just thinking the other day about how confused we seniors are most of the time. Things are so different than when we were young. We find it hard to understand much of what we are confronted with.
Some things like this happen to us frequently. We begin a conversation with, “In my day.” We look so old we are followed around by archeologists. We tell our kids that old age causes us to become wiser and they tell us, “Then you must be a genius.” We no longer look forward to a wild evening out, but look forward to a dull evening in. -
We are heirs and joint-heirs to His kingdom
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. — Rom 8:14-19 -
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How little exercise is necessary for good health?
That question was the subject of a recent investigation by a team of exercise scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and the answer seems to be a lot less than we might think, as long as we’re willing to put in the effort. -
A mother’s love never stops
A mothers love will always be there. Even when everyone else stops to rest, her love for her family continues. She is always working, carring and sharing what she has with her children, even if she has to do without for herself.
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Start planting your hot weather vegetables now
Hopefully, the unusual spate of unseasonably warm weather we had earlier this spring did not fool you, and you’ve been patiently waiting to get your hot weather veggies, such as tomatoes and peppers, into your summer vegetable garden.Now is a good time to start planting these delectable goodies.
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Rethinking the benefits of crunches
I’ve been doing crunches all my adult life and it may be one of the reasons I have back problems. Research from the University of Waterloo in Ontario has found that repeated bending of the spine, such as occurs when doing crunches, can contribute over time to damage of spinal discs. The results are presented — along with a lot of other useful information — in the book, “Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance” by Stuart McGill.
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Internal Revenue Code section 401(k) is the only section of the US tax code that average people can cite.
They know it has something to do with whether or not they can retire with dignity. Or retire at all. -
He is there when you need Him
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. — Psalm 139:7-10 - More Lifestyles & Community Headlines
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