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home health

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month

December 3, 2020

During November, the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) encourages all communities to celebrate National Home Care and Hospice Month, honoring the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists, and social workers who make a difference for the patients and families they serve.

Home Health and Hospice Group Shot
Blake Nelson
Blake Nelson

“For the aged, disabled or ill, staying in the homes they know and love can become increasingly difficult unless they can get services they need to support them,” says Blake Nelson, director of Hamilton Home Health.

Home health care is medical care that is appropriate for people suffering from chronic illness or recovering from acute injury or illness who need skilled care to remain at home. Services include medication management, wound care, physical therapy, occupational therapy and other skilled services provided by licensed individuals. Some patients qualify for additional services such as home health aides and medical social workers when necessary to support skilled services.

Care requires a physician’s order and requires that the patient be under the care of a physician. Most insurers also require that the patient be homebound, meaning the patient only leaves home infrequently and it is very difficult to do so.

Home health care can be mistaken for personal or companion care (or non-medical care), which includes transportation, errands, light housekeeping, meal preparation and assistance with activities of daily living. Private sitters and some private and government agencies provide this type of care.

When a disease process has become terminal and patients and families are ready to shift the focus of care from curative treatment to comfort care and symptom control, hospice care allows patients to remain in familiar surroundings at the end of life. Hospice care provides support and education to the patient’s family during the patient’s time on hospice and for a specified time after the death of the patient.

Hospice provides four levels of care, including routine home care, respite care, general inpatient care and continuous home care. These levels are determined based on the patient’s needs and can be provided in the home, in a nursing home or assisted living facility or, in some cases, in the hospital.

Lauren Jones - Hamilton
Lauren Jones

“Choosing to receive hospice care does not mean you are giving up hope or that death is imminent. Hospice care allows the patient to live every day to the fullest,” says Lauren Jones, administrator and clinical manager for Hamilton Hospice. “The earlier someone receives hospice care, the more opportunity there is to stabilize his or her medical condition and address other needs. Some patients actually improve and may be discharged from hospice care.

Jones says one of the biggest fears of terminally ill patients is losing control of making their own decisions. “Utilizing a hospice program allows the patient and their loved ones to voice their opinions and concerns while being a part of creating their own plan of care with our interdisciplinary team as a whole,” she says.

Hospice focuses on comfort, dignity and emotional support.

“The quality of life for the patient, but also family members and others, who are caregivers, is the highest priority,” says Jones.

Hospice is appropriate when patients with a life-limiting illness discover that continued aggressive disease treatment is no longer effective, beneficial or desired.  

“This type of care not only ensures that symptoms are managed and medications and equipment are provided, but it also supports families and assists them in dealing with the emotional and physical strain that can accompany end-of-life situations,” Jones says.

Hospice care is a benefit of Medicare and most private insurers as long as the patient continues to meet the necessary criteria. The benefit pays for all care, equipment (including hospital beds and oxygen) and medications associated with the patient’s terminal diagnosis. Hamilton Hospice is committed to caring for all patients, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

Patients may revoke their hospice benefit at any time if they feel the need to resume more aggressive care. Patients can also re-enroll in hospice as their condition worsens.

For more information, please visit hamiltonhealth.com/services or call Hamilton Home Health at 706-226-2848 or Hamilton Hospice at 706-278-2848.

Home health and hospice are part of the continuum of services that are provided by Hamilton Health Care System, which also includes hospital care, cardiovascular services, rehabilitation and wellness, ambulatory infusion, cancer care, behavioral health, long-term care, wound care and others.


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Filed Under: Excellence at Hamilton, News Tagged With: hamilton health care system, home health, hospice, National Association for Home Care

November is National Home Care and Hospice Month

November 27, 2019

Home Health and Hamilton Hospice
Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice team members are pictured.

During November, the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) encourages all communities to celebrate National Home Care and Hospice Month, honoring the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists and social workers who make a difference for the patients and families they serve.

“For the aged, disabled or ill, staying in the homes they know and love can become increasingly difficult unless they can get services they need to support them,” says Derek Crum, RN, interim director of Hamilton Home Health.

Home health care is medical care that is appropriate for people suffering from chronic illness or recovering from acute injury or illness who need skilled care to remain at home. Services include medication management, wound care, physical therapy, occupational therapy and other skilled services provided by licensed individuals. Some patients qualify for additional services such as home health aides and medical social workers when necessary to support skilled services.

Care requires a physician’s order, and requires that the patient be under the care of a physician. Most insurers also require that the patient be homebound, meaning the patient only leaves home infrequently and it is very difficult to do so.

Home health care can be mistaken for personal or companion care (or non-medical care), which includes transportation, errands, light housekeeping, meal preparation and assistance with activities of daily living. Private sitters and some private and government agencies provide this type of care.


Visit Hamilton Home Health Online

When a disease process has become terminal and patients and families are ready to shift the focus of care from curative treatment to comfort care and symptom control, in-home hospice care allows patients to remain in familiar surroundings at the end of life.

“Choosing to receive hospice care does not mean you are giving up hope or that death is imminent,” says Robbie Wheat, director of Hamilton Hospice. “The earlier someone receives hospice care, the more opportunity there is to stabilize his or her medical condition and address other needs. Some patients actually improve and may be discharged from hospice care.”

Hospice care is a type of home care and is appropriate when patients with life-limiting illness discover that continued aggressive disease treatment is no longer effective, beneficial or desired. Hospice focuses on comfort, dignity and emotional support. The quality of life for the patient, but also family members and others who are caregivers, is the highest priority.

“This type of care not only ensures that symptoms are controlled and medications and equipment are provided so that patients are comfortable, it also supports families and assists them in dealing with the emotional and physical strain that can accompany end-of-life situations,” says Cynthia Washington, RN, Hamilton Hospice administrator and clinical manager.


Visit Hamilton Hospice Online

Hospice care is a benefit of Medicare and most private insurers as long as the patient continues to meet the necessary criteria. The benefit pays for all care, equipment and medications associated with the patient’s terminal diagnosis. Hamilton Hospice is committed to caring for all patients, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

Patients may revoke their hospice benefit at any time if they feel the need to resume more aggressive care. Patients can also re-enroll in hospice as their condition worsens.

For more information, please visit ONLINE or call Hamilton Home Health at 706-226-2848 or Hamilton Hospice at 706-278-2848.

Home health and hospice are part of the continuum of services that are provided by Hamilton Health Care System, which also includes hospital care, cardiovascular services, rehabilitation and wellness, ambulatory infusion, cancer care, behavioral health, long-term care, wound care and others.


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Filed Under: Excellence at Hamilton, Happening at Hamilton, News Tagged With: associate recognition, home health, hospice

Hamilton Recognizes Aides During Home Care Aide Week

November 26, 2019

Home health and hospice aides
Cyndi Washington, RN, Hospice clinical manager and administrator; Frances Lawrence, CAN; Jason Gonzales, CAN; Heather White, CAN; Mary Greene, RN, nurse supervisor; and Michelle Bruton, RN, nurse supervisor.

As part of the celebration of November as National Home Care and Hospice month, the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) recognized the second full week of November as Home Care Aide Week. These individuals are recognized for bringing personal warmth to the daily work of giving personal care.

 

Nurses and therapists can assist with medication administration, teaching and disease management. But many times, patients and caregivers do not know how to manipulate equipment, safely transfer a patient into a shower, give a bed bath, change a bed with a person in it, or turn and position a patient.

 

“These tasks can be overwhelming,” said Cyndi Washington, RN, Hamilton Hospice administrator a clinical manager. “A home health aide can be an invaluable ally to support families as they provide care to their loved ones.”

 

A home health aide is so much more than the person who gives a bath or straightens a room, according to Frances Lawrence, home health aide. “We are the eyes and ears for the nurses and therapists as well,” she said. “We can pick up on changes going on with a patient and report those changes to the patient’s nurse.”

 

Personal care is therapeutic, especially when it is provided with love and compassion. “A bath is not only a task listed on my assignment sheet, it is something I can do that can help a patient relax and feel so much better,” said Dee Underwood, hospice aide. “Washing someone’s hair, providing foot care or a back rub sometimes opens the door for that person to talk or express things they want or need to say. I enjoy getting to know each one of my patients.”

 

Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice employs a total of five home health and hospice aides.

 

“We have been blessed at this agency to have such caring people working as home health and hospice aides,” said Mary Greene, Home Health supervisor. “They not only care for the patient. They work with families and caregivers to teach them techniques to help patients be safer and feel more comfortable as they provide personal care.”


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Filed Under: Happening at Hamilton, News Tagged With: home health, hospice, long term care

Hamilton Hospice, Hamilton Home Health Honors Veterans

November 11, 2019

Recognizing military service is very important to those at Hamilton Hospice and Hamilton Home Health.

 

Throughout the year, Hamilton Hospice recognizes veterans. The Veteran’s Recognition Certificate is presented at family gatherings. The gatherings include the reading of poems, singing and reminiscing with family and friends.

 

Additionally, throughout the year, social workers coordinate with Veterans Affairs in getting benefits for patients who are veterans. On Veterans Day, thank-you cards and flags are given out. And at Hamilton Hospice celebration of life services, held each spring, veterans are recognized through the display of a veterans wreath and candle, and through the reading of their veteran status during a special bell ringing ceremony.

 

Dr. Elam
Mark Elam, MD

Hamilton Hospice began recognizing Veterans formally in 2010 when Mark Elam, MD, hospice medical director, made the recommendation to present a Veteran’s Recognition Certificate to veteran patients.

 

“I think it is the most important thing we’ve added to the program,” said Elam. “For veterans to receive recognition, it means everything, especially for Vietnam veterans.” Elam served as a physician with the U.S. Army, completing his service as a major. He practiced medicine at multiple military hospitals including the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany (serving during the fall of the Berlin Wall). Also, he comes from a family of veterans, with his father and uncles serving in WWII.

 

Tommy Deal
Tommy Deal

Hospice chaplain Tommy Deal agreed. “It is such an honor to recognize our veteran patients in this way,” he said. “To say ‘thank you’ to them is important in recognizing the whole person God has created, and [He] has allowed us to serve [during] this time.”

 

Ann Larkin-Huff
Ann Larkin-Huff

Neal Brannen, RN, hospice case manager, served in the U.S. Navy as a 1st class petty officer/sonar technician. Often Brannen presents the certificate to hospice patients. “It is a very emotional moment to watch a veteran from one generation paying tribute to a veteran from another,” said Ann Larkin-Huff, hospice social worker. Larkin-Huff fondly remembers stories of her father’s time in service, which sparked her aspiration to honor veterans through her work today.

 

Several other team members at Hamilton Hospice and Hamilton Home Health are veterans or have strong ties to service members. They include:

  • Daryl Silver – served as an infantry medic
  • Kristie Ferguson-Johnson – father served in the U.S. Marine Corps and nephew is a U.S. Marine in active service
  • Deb Barnes – father served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea, son serving in U.S. Army
  • Tiffany Coker – father served in U.S. Army
  • Derek Crum – father served in U.S. Army, stationed in Korea
  • Mary Green – father served in U.S. Army, brother served in U.S. Marine Corps
  • Megan Little – grandfather served in U.S. Air Force (WWII), cousin is serving in U.S. Navy
  • Mandy Preston – son is serving in U.S. Navy
  • Candi Sanders – husband served in U.S. Army
  • Evelyn Wall – father served in U.S. Army (Korea)
  • Heather White – husband served in U.S. Marine Corps.

 


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Filed Under: Community, Happening at Hamilton Tagged With: home health, hospice, Veterans Day

Hamilton Long Term Care Celebrates 
National Skilled Nursing Care Week

May 17, 2019

National Skilled Nursing Care Week - Hamilton Health Care System

Hamilton Health Care System’s Long Term Care facilities, including Regency Park Health and Rehabilitation, Wood Dale Health and Rehabilitation, Ridgewood Manor Health and Rehabilitation and Quinton Memorial Health and Rehabilitation, celebrated National Skilled Nursing Care Week (NSNCW), which runs from May 12 to 18. The theme for this year’s national observance, “Live Soulfully,” celebrates skilled nursing centers, their residents and staff, by showcasing how they achieve happy minds and healthy souls. Established by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) in 1967, NSNCW, formerly known as National Nursing Home Week, provides an opportunity for residents and their loved ones, staff, volunteers, and surrounding communities to acknowledge the role of skilled nursing care centers in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities.

National Skilled Nursing Care Week - Hamilton Health Care System

National Skilled Nursing Care Week - Hamilton Health Care System

National Skilled Nursing Care Week - Hamilton Health Care System

 


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Filed Under: Associate Recognition, Hamilton Long Term Care, News Tagged With: associate recognition, hamilton health care system, HLTC, home health, long term care, skilled nurses week

Hamilton Recognizes Aides During Home Care Aide Week

November 20, 2018

Home Health Care Aides
: Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Home Hospice celebrated Home Care Aide Week Nov. 14-20. From left are Frances Lawrence, home health aide; Mary Greene, home health clinical supervisor; Heather White, supply and home health aide coordinator; Rachelle Cherry, Home Health clinical manager; Dee Underwood, hospice aide; and Susie Compton, director of Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice.


As part of the celebration of November as National Home Care and Hospice month, the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) recognized the second full week of November as Home Care Aide Week. These individuals are recognized for bringing personal warmth to the daily work of giving personal care. They play an invaluable role for their patients as caregivers, companions and friends.

Nurses and therapists can assist with medication administration, teaching and disease management. But many times, patients and caregivers do not know how to manipulate equipment, safely transfer a patient into a shower, give a bed bath, change a bed with a person in it, or turn and position a patient. “These tasks can be overwhelming,” says Susie Compton, RN, director of Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice. “A home health aide can be an invaluable ally to support families as they provide care to their loved ones.”

A home health aide is so much more than the person who gives a bath or straightens a room, according to Frances Lawrence, home health aide. “We are the eyes and ears for the nurses and therapists as well,” she says. “We can pick up on changes going on with a patient and report those changes to the patient’s nurse.”

Personal care is therapeutic, especially when it is provided with love and compassion. “A bath is not only a task listed on my assignment sheet, it is something I can do that can help a patient relax and feel so much better,” says Dee Underwood, hospice aide. “Washing someone’s hair, providing foot care or a back rub sometimes opens the door for that person to talk or express things they want or need to say. I enjoy getting to know each one of my patients.”

Rachelle Cherry, Home Health clinical manager, says working with aides allows the agency to detect and treat changes in vital signs, pain and functional ability.

Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice employs a total of five home health and hospice aides.

“We have been blessed at this agency to have such caring people working as home health and hospice aides,” says Mary Greene, Home Health supervisor. “They not only care for the patient, they work with families and caregivers to teach them techniques to help patients be safer and feel more comfortable as they provide personal care.”

Filed Under: Associate Recognition, Excellence at Hamilton, Health & Wellness, News Tagged With: aides, home health, hospice

November Is National Home Care and Hospice Month

November 9, 2018

Home Health & Hospice Group

During November, the National Association for Home Care (NAHC) encourages all communities to celebrate National Home Care and Hospice Month, honoring the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists and social workers who make a difference for the patients and families they serve.

“For the aged, disabled or ill, staying in the homes they know and love can become increasingly difficult unless they can get services they need to support them,” says Susie Compton, RN, director of Hamilton Home Health and Hamilton Hospice.

Home health care is medical care that is appropriate for people suffering from chronic illness, recovering from acute injury or illness and needing skilled care to remain at home. Services include medication management, wound care, physical therapy, speech therapy and other skilled services provided by licensed individuals. Some patients qualify for additional services such as home health aides and medical social workers when necessary to support skilled services.

Care requires a physician’s order, and requires that the patient be under the care of a physician. Most insurers also require that the patient be homebound, meaning the patient only leaves home infrequently, and it is very difficult to do so.

Home health care can be mistaken for personal or companion care (or non-medical care), which includes transportation, errands, light housekeeping, meal preparation and assistance with activities of daily living. Private sitters and some private and government agencies provide this type of care.

When a disease process has become terminal and patients and families are ready to shift the focus of care from curative treatment to comfort care and symptom control, in-home hospice care allows patients to remain in familiar surroundings at the end of life.

Hospice care is a type of home care and is appropriate when patients with life-limiting illness discover that continued aggressive disease treatment is no longer effective, beneficial or desired. Hospice focuses on comfort, dignity and emotional support. The quality of life for the patient, but also family members and others who are caregivers, is the highest priority.

“This type of care not only ensures that symptoms are controlled and medications and equipment are provided so that patients are comfortable, it also supports families and assists them in dealing with the emotional and physical strain that can accompany end-of-life situations,” says Cynthia Washington, RN, Hamilton Hospice clinical manager.

Hospice care is a benefit of Medicare and most private insurers as long as the patient continues to meet the necessary criteria. The benefit pays for all care, equipment and medications associated with the patient’s terminal diagnosis. Hamilton Hospice is committed to caring for all patients, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

“Choosing to receive hospice care does not mean you are giving up hope or that death is imminent,” says Compton. “The earlier someone receives hospice care, the more opportunity there is to stabilize his or her medical condition and address other needs. Some patients actually improve and may be discharged from hospice care.”

Patients may revoke their hospice benefit at any time if they feel the need to resume more aggressive care. Patients can also re-enroll in hospice as their condition and needs warrant.

For more information, please visit hamiltonhealth.com/services or call Hamilton Home Health at 706-226-2848 or Hamilton Hospice at 706-278-2848.

Home health and hospice are part of the continuum of services that are provided by Hamilton Health Care System, which also includes hospital care, women’s services, rehabilitation and wellness, ambulatory infusion, cancer care, behavioral health, long-term care, wound care and others.

Filed Under: Associate Recognition, Community, Excellence at Hamilton, News Tagged With: home health, hospice

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