For those with chronic, progressive illnesses, access to ongoing support can improve quality of life. Carle Health Palliative Care helps both patients and their loved ones manage symptoms and find relief. Services are available at any stage of an illness or during ongoing treatment. Casey White is an advanced care provider excited to bring these services to patients in Normal Illinois as an in-patient and out-patient care service.
“This area has a high population of patients with chronic, life limiting illnesses that are hospitalized often because their symptoms are not controlled well at home,” Casey White, APRN, Palliative Care, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said. Care teams in Normal are modeling services after what is already available to patients in Champaign, Urbana, Greater Peoria and their surrounding communities.
“Throughout our country, we have a larger population of older patients and patients with chronic, progressive illnesses. Palliative medicine is a service that really provides a lot of benefit to these patient populations,” Kristine Redfield, APRN, Palliative Care, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said.
Carle clinicians typically recommend palliative care for patients experiencing serious illnesses such as heart, kidney and lung disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS or Alzheimer’s. These are illnesses that may limit quality of life or require continuous, specialized care.
With this care, patients have access to personalized hospital and clinic visits, home visits and phone calls, outpatient consultations, and specialized physical, emotional, social and spiritual care.
As advanced practice registered nurses on the palliative care team, both White and Redfield have specialty training and work to provide patients with another layer of support. Their goal is to improve a patient’s quality of life through collaborative care and open communication with the patient, their families and support systems, and their established care teams.
“We hope to be seen as a specialty that can assist with disabling symptoms and to hopefully help improve the patient’s quality of life, whatever that may look like,” White said.
Even if a patient is receiving ongoing treatment for their condition, they may experience pain, fatigue, poor appetite, poor sleep nausea, dyspnea and more. These symptoms can make daily life difficult and cause undue stress despite any curative care they may be undergoing.
“We can also help with managing symptoms while they are still receiving curative treatment,” Redfield said. “For instance, just because you are on active treatment for cancer doesn’t mean you have to feel bad the whole time. With our help, you can still have a good quality of life and better symptom management.”
Inpatient palliative care provides:
“Being able to provide these services closer to home for a lot of these patients is a wonderful thing. These are patients that may have difficulty getting to appointments and having to travel farther for palliative services could prevent them from seeking out this kind of care,” Redfield said.
The palliative care team will also advocate for patient wishes as they plan for future healthcare decisions. This team can also connect patients with local community resources they may benefit from.
And to help support those in the patient’s life, the care team also offers educational assistance for loved ones to have a better understanding of an illness or a patient’s medical needs.
“I am a huge advocate for helping patients achieve what their idea of a good quality of life is,” White said. “For example, if a curative intent patient is undergoing cancer treatments and is experiencing pain and is overcome by emotions and fear, I would like to help them explore how we can improve these symptoms so that they can continue living to the fullest during this trial in their life.”
“The great thing is we can also follow patients after they leave the hospital,” Redfield said. “We can continue to update and adjust their care as needed based on where they are in their illness over time. This helps to provide a more long-term benefit from palliative services and hopefully improve patients’ quality of life.”
How a patient chooses to address a condition, or their symptoms, is different for everyone. A benefit of palliative care is that patients can access this support no matter their age or the level of care they are currently receiving. But the team ensures that care plans follow the patient’s healthcare goals based around their medical condition and needs.
“A lot of patients believe healthcare and treatment has to be all or nothing, and that just isn’t true,” Redfield said. “We can offer treatment and support to a whole new population of patients that maybe haven’t had access to palliative services before, and that is a truly wonderful thing.”
Those interested in palliative care should begin with a conversation with their provider to connect with care closest to them. For more information about palliative care services at Carle Health, visit Carle.org.
“This area has a high population of patients with chronic, life limiting illnesses that are hospitalized often because their symptoms are not controlled well at home,” Casey White, APRN, Palliative Care, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said. Care teams in Normal are modeling services after what is already available to patients in Champaign, Urbana, Greater Peoria and their surrounding communities.“Throughout our country, we have a larger population of older patients and patients with chronic, progressive illnesses. Palliative medicine is a service that really provides a lot of benefit to these patient populations,” Kristine Redfield, APRN, Palliative Care, Carle BroMenn Medical Center, said.
Carle clinicians typically recommend palliative care for patients experiencing serious illnesses such as heart, kidney and lung disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS or Alzheimer’s. These are illnesses that may limit quality of life or require continuous, specialized care.
With this care, patients have access to personalized hospital and clinic visits, home visits and phone calls, outpatient consultations, and specialized physical, emotional, social and spiritual care.
As advanced practice registered nurses on the palliative care team, both White and Redfield have specialty training and work to provide patients with another layer of support. Their goal is to improve a patient’s quality of life through collaborative care and open communication with the patient, their families and support systems, and their established care teams.
“We hope to be seen as a specialty that can assist with disabling symptoms and to hopefully help improve the patient’s quality of life, whatever that may look like,” White said.
Even if a patient is receiving ongoing treatment for their condition, they may experience pain, fatigue, poor appetite, poor sleep nausea, dyspnea and more. These symptoms can make daily life difficult and cause undue stress despite any curative care they may be undergoing.
“We can also help with managing symptoms while they are still receiving curative treatment,” Redfield said. “For instance, just because you are on active treatment for cancer doesn’t mean you have to feel bad the whole time. With our help, you can still have a good quality of life and better symptom management.”
Inpatient palliative care provides:
- Close monitoring of the patient while they are in the hospital to help manage symptoms as they undergo care
- Discussions between patients and their providers about care goals and treatment options for their conditions.
“Being able to provide these services closer to home for a lot of these patients is a wonderful thing. These are patients that may have difficulty getting to appointments and having to travel farther for palliative services could prevent them from seeking out this kind of care,” Redfield said.
The palliative care team will also advocate for patient wishes as they plan for future healthcare decisions. This team can also connect patients with local community resources they may benefit from.
And to help support those in the patient’s life, the care team also offers educational assistance for loved ones to have a better understanding of an illness or a patient’s medical needs.
“I am a huge advocate for helping patients achieve what their idea of a good quality of life is,” White said. “For example, if a curative intent patient is undergoing cancer treatments and is experiencing pain and is overcome by emotions and fear, I would like to help them explore how we can improve these symptoms so that they can continue living to the fullest during this trial in their life.”
“The great thing is we can also follow patients after they leave the hospital,” Redfield said. “We can continue to update and adjust their care as needed based on where they are in their illness over time. This helps to provide a more long-term benefit from palliative services and hopefully improve patients’ quality of life.”
How a patient chooses to address a condition, or their symptoms, is different for everyone. A benefit of palliative care is that patients can access this support no matter their age or the level of care they are currently receiving. But the team ensures that care plans follow the patient’s healthcare goals based around their medical condition and needs.
“A lot of patients believe healthcare and treatment has to be all or nothing, and that just isn’t true,” Redfield said. “We can offer treatment and support to a whole new population of patients that maybe haven’t had access to palliative services before, and that is a truly wonderful thing.”
Those interested in palliative care should begin with a conversation with their provider to connect with care closest to them. For more information about palliative care services at Carle Health, visit Carle.org.
Categories: Redefining Healthcare
Tags: Care, Chronic, Condition, Illness, Management, Palliative, Patient, Services, Support