Sometimes a nursing home social worker really has to become a Dr. Phil. Families are so stressed as they manage the caregiving process. Many are so dead-set against long-term, institutional placement of any kind, even ruling out smaller assisted living programs. Nursing home social workers and other internal discharge planning staff will review available options as best they can and when this is done adult day care needs to be on the checklist of items reviewed.
Today we have adult day care programs that are complete with physician follow-up, consults by gerontologists, physical rehabilitation, case management intervention to add an extra set of clinical ears to a family’s observation, special nutrition programs and more. Some double as Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitative Facilities, (CORF) allowing them to bill for specialized therapies including art, music and dance and the services of medical social workers and skilled nursing. All in all these wonderful programs have become the beacon of long-term care in the community, virtual extensions of hospitals.
Some have even added online medical consults with physicians who monitor the patient’s progress within the adult day care center. This allows the adult day care to be an active and relevant clinical partner in reducing premature, avoidable hospital re-admissions with comprehensive participant monitoring.
As a result patients are remaining more stable and hospitals are losing less money.
So when helping that family to plan that discharge let’s be sure the most meaningful partners are introduced. Know the adult day care community around you starting today.
For more on this topic on a regular basis join the www.linkedin.com group: Adult Day Care Innovation & Growth
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