New guidelines, issued Wednesday, are calling for a “seismic” shift in treatment for serious illnesses, with long-term care and other providers taking on a bigger role.
The National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, which issued the new guidelines today, says they are endorsed by more than 80 national organizations. They include tools, resources and practice examples that skilled nursing facilities can use to bolster the delivery of care.
NCP experts noted that, given the limited availability of palliative care specialists to pitch in at nursing homes, providers must become experts themselves to ensure that all residents receive the relief from physical and mental stress that can come with serious illness.
“Medical care is often like swim lanes: Everyone’s got their role, everyone’s in their lane. Whereas, palliative care is more like synchronized swimming,” Martha Twaddle, M.D. co-chair of the guidelines, told McKnight’s. “It’s their person and their chosen family in the center, with coordination of care all around them. These guidelines are really essential, given the complexity of care for someone who has a serious illness, and can help a long-term care program figure out the essential elements that it needs to have in place.”
This is the fourth edition of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, developed in conjunction with 16 different organizations, and funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. This latest offering incorporates new recommendations, which include conducting a comprehensive assessment on every resident with a serious illness to determine his or her care needs, along with improving care coordination and transitions, incorporating culture into palliative care, and bolstering communication between the nursing home and other providers.
One of the main takeaways for operators, Twaddle said, is that they should not feel as if they need to deliver this care alone.
“The idea is that no one person can do all of this work caring for the seriously ill,” she said. “We need to look outside of our immediate sphere of resources to say, ‘Who else is here to help me?’”
