The Real March Madness? Not Getting the Right Care When You Need It!

For die-hard basketball fans, March brings a fanatical focus to the sport all month long—sometimes to the neglect of other life matters! At Capital Caring Health, we bring the same passion and dedication to the care and support of our patients and their families every month of the year, no matter what. That’s because quality care involves getting the right care at the right time. And if you’re a senior home-limited due to multiple chronic conditions or other reasons, where and how you get your care matters, too. 

Capital Caring Health (CCH) has the right lineup to help you or a loved one—whether that’s assistance with primary care, managing serious illness, relief from advanced pain, or some other chronic condition.  

Odds Are, We Have What You Need

CCH offers a comprehensive range of elder health services including primary care in the home, support for patients and families coping with congestive heart failure (CHF), treatment for severe pain, or advanced illness/palliative care to help with symptom relief and social support.

No matter your situation, CCH has resources and staff to help assess whether our services are right for you or a loved one and to provide custom medical and social support services.

Primary Care at Home: Never Skip Medical Care Again

If you or a family member have difficulty getting to a doctor’s office due to chronic illness/disability, or advancing age, you may be skipping regular health care. But doing so can allow a chronic condition to grow worse, possibly requiring more intensive and expensive care later on. With CCH’s Primary Care at Home program (PCH), our dedicated care team delivers what you need to age at home, safely and with dignity, including:

• House calls by doctors, nurse practitioners, and social workers who specialize in the care of older adults with advanced illness
• Mobile technology to perform in-home diagnostic tests such as blood work, X-rays, and ultrasound
• 24/7 coordination of care so our team is always available by phone to arrange primary and urgent care, specialists, hospital and support services
• Family time to work closely with the families of patients so all understand the plan of care

Additionally, PCH members and their families often require supplemental assistance to remain safely at home. So CCH offers an add-on program, Stay-at-Home Services, to ease the strains of just getting through daily life. From meal preparation and delivery to transportation…from light housekeeping to home repair…if you are enrolled in Stay-at-Home and need help, just ask!

Living with Congestive Heart Failure: Take Control of Your Symptoms

Patients experiencing the difficult symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF) typically make frequent trips to the doctor’s office or emergency room, which often lead to hospitalization. Yet our team of specially-trained staff help patients and family members safely manage CHF at home, keeping your symptoms under control and you out of the hospital.

Through CCH’s George Pakidis Advanced Cardiac Care program (ACC), patients receive:

• Regular visits and check-in calls by a nurse with specialized training

• Patient education customized for each patient and family

• Medications to help control symptoms, reviewed with each patient

• Additional supportive care by request—from a social worker, nurse assistant, chaplain, counselor, and/or volunteer.

To further assist patients and families take control, experts from CCH and other nonprofit hospices across the country developed The Patient and Caregiver Handbook with help from the American Heart Association. This practical guide features how-to’s for symptom management and self-care tips, including information on medication and diet; tools to track symptoms, blood pressure and weight; and an action plan that lets you know what interventions you can safely implement at home, and when you need to call a team member.

You can download a copy here.

Advanced Pain Clinic: Get Relief from Illness-Related Pain

Many advanced illnesses are accompanied by pain, affecting quality of life for patients and families. Unfortunately, many treatments, especially for cancer, can also inadvertently cause debilitating pain even as they fight disease. And some pain relief medications taken at home—particularly opioids—may come with serious side effects.

CCH’s Schaufeld Family Clinic for Advanced Pain offers the latest in interventional, minimally-invasive procedures. Its advanced technology allows precise targeting for diagnosis and pain relief, helping patients return to daily activities and regain a better outlook. In addition, clinic director Michael Byas-Smith, MD, has more than three decades of experience treating cancer patients, with some of his own innovative approaches often delivering improved patient outcomes.

Palliative/Advanced Illness Care: What Everyone Should Know 

If you or someone in your family is dealing with serious illness, pain, and stress, you may benefit from a special type of care that helps manage symptoms at any stage of illness. Known as palliative care, it can be provided hand-in-hand with curative care, while making a world of difference to patients and families.

With palliative/advanced illness care, CCH works with your doctor and medical team to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Our support extends to helping to schedule appointments, arrange transportation, assist with patient/family communication and insurance issues. And if the need arises, CCH can also provide a seamless transition to hospice so there are no unnecessary concerns or gaps in care.

Hospice Care: Reducing Suffering, Improving Quality of Life 

When hospice care is needed, sadly, the majority of people only receive its calming and compassionate services during the last days or week of their lives. Yet surveys show that both patients and families are more satisfied the longer a patient receives hospice services. And to receive the greatest benefits, a patient should spend at least two to three months in hospice care. 

Hospice focuses on controlling symptoms including pain, so that patients and loved ones can focus on their time together. In 98% of cases, services are provided right in the home—whether that’s the family residence, assisted living center, or long-term care or VA facility.

At CCH, hospice care includes:

• A specialized team of nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains, supervising physicians, nurse practitioners, and others
• Around-the-clock, on-call support
• Medical equipment and supplies, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen, and more, all delivered directly to the home
• Medications to control symptoms and pain

Taking Your Next Shot: Get the Right Care at the Right Time

Getting the right care at the right time calls for understanding symptoms, as well as knowing  when and how to get a different level of care. CCH offers online resources that describe symptoms and changes for a variety of serious, often degenerative conditions including cancer; Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia; neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, ALS, stroke; advanced heart disease; lung and kidney disease, and more. To check out these disease-specific resources, click here and here.

Call us: It’s a Slam Dunk!

To find out more about what programs and services might be right for your unique situation, to arrange a free assessment or a referral, or to simply ask questions, please get in touch with us. Call (800) 869-2136 any time, day or night, visit us at https://www.capitalcaring.org/ and/or use our Live Chat feature. Or you can fill out a form and someone will call you back at a time of your choice.  

Unlike March Madness, there’s no need for guesswork when it comes to picking your health care team. We promise you’ll score when you select Capital Caring Health as your championship team any time of the year!