Patient advocacy for reform of the current home care delivery system
and advocacy for better education of home care aides. The goals of this
organization are suggested in a list of sub-topics that include: PATIENT
ADVOCACY and FOSTERING CONTROL; REFORMS; COMPLAINT PROCESS; HOME CARE EMPLOYEES'
EDUCATION; POLITICAL; and, DISCRIMINATION.
These are the proposed goals for a patient-oriented advocacy
organization:
1. PATIENT ADVOCACY and FOSTERING CONTROL
To encourage patients who are experiencing problems in receiving home care
to identify themselves by contacting us. Problems including but not
limited to those: who do not receive the hours they are allotted; who
experience "personality differences" or other problems with workers;
who have workers who steal, use drugs, or try to elicit monies from patients;
etc.
To represent the interests of patients who receive services from home care
agencies and private contractors, and to encourage patients to become vocal
about the problems they encounter.
To serve as the unified voice for patients receiving services from the home
care and hospice community.
To assist with advocacy to patients who experience problems while receiving
home care, and to teach and encourage self-advocacy.
To revitalize the message that all patients have the right to be treated as
independent human beings, who retain control over decisions involving their
residence and belongings, despite their physical need of help from home care
workers.
To promote and revitalize the message that a person's home is indeed
"his castle," and is sacrosanct, even when a person's home becomes
the place of another's employment.
To encourage patients to contribute to the ongoing reform of the services
they need from home care agencies.
To foster patient feeling of competence and empower patients to reclaim
control over their lives, their residence and their belongings.
To advocate that all patients write out a list of the duties, jobs, chores
and errands they expect to be performed daily. To advocate that this
list form part of the employment "contract" between / among the
agency, the home health aide and patient/family, so that everyone knows what
to expect.
2. REFORMS
To promote reforms of the current home care services to include: the
development and use of written evaluations by patients of each home care
worker from the first visit; reforms to the educational requirements and
testing policies of Home Health Aides; reforms to the hiring practices of
agencies; the development of a separate body to handle complaints.
3. COMPLAINT PROCESS
To initiate that every "new patient packet" should include a
complaint form which lists common complaints, so that a patient simply has to
fill in the form and mail it - ill patients do not have secretaries and often
do not feel well enough to write letters. A form would help to "put
it in writing."
To take the complaint process out of the hands of those who now provide the
care, who arrange for the agency to initiate service, or who supervise over
any of these entities.
To ensure that complaint processes are stream-lined for ease of use by
patients, and that contact numbers are provided to every patient.
To make agencies more accountable for the quality of workers they hire.
To make agencies and those in supervisory positions more accountable in
responding to problems and complaints related to care given.
To promote collaboration among national, state, and local organizations
relating to home care services and issues, with a focus on patient issues.
4. HOME CARE EMPLOYEES' EDUCATION
To foster, develop, and promote high standards by home health aides who
provide services in home care.
To extinguish the use of "cake tests" which do not accurately
test the knowledge-base home care aides should know;
and to...
To promote increased education and appropriate testing of home care aides,
with testing that elevates the caliber of employees hired.
5. PUBLIC AWARENESS
To increase the public's awareness of the needs of patients receiving home
care and hospice services.
To increase the public's awareness of the deficits of the current
home care delivery programs, as seen by the consumer.
To disseminate information to the media and the general public that
promotes knowledge and acceptance of patient needs and obstacles to receiving
care from home health care agencies.
6. POLITICAL
To lobby that home care employees receive adequate wages and other
compensation to improve retention and initial qualifications of employees.
To heighten the political visibility of home care and hospice patients and
the issues we face.
To influence the legislative, judicial, and regulatory processes with
respect to issues of affecting patients receiving home care services.
7. DISCRIMINATION
To promote education of workers that will decrease the discrimination now
experienced by patients with certain illnesses, disorders or conditions.
To
bring attention to discriminatory practices.
Read Patient
Rights and
Proposed Additional Patient Rights
How does YOUR Home Health Aide and
Agency stack up?
These pages will be added soon -
Read more about things you should know, like:
Self-Advocacy - things to consider
before getting home care.
Choosing a home care company.
What can you do if you receive poor service? |
* NOTE: The National Association for Home Care is a
body established to assist home care agencies, NOT THE
PATIENTS/CONSUMERS OR FAMILY/CAREGIVERS. The NAHC assists
agencies/companies in influencing legislation (or fighting legislation that may
not be favorable to agencies/companies within States or Nationwide). Visit
http://www.nahc.org/FAQs_about.html
for more information.
** Most home health aides employed through State programs that pay for home
care do not take care of "skilled services" such as ventilators.
Like IV therapy, LPNs or RNs must attend to these cases.
Commonly Used
Abbreviations in Long Term Care (and Home Care) - external link
