Page 113 - Vibrant Living Scrapbook

Common Sense Assessing and Care Planning (cont’d)
Life Plan? Living My Life the Way I Want To So what is a plan for the whole person called? A “life plan?” A “quality-of-life plan?” A “meaning- and-purpose plan?” How about, “living my life?” Maybe there is a way to get out from under the medical care focus and concentrate equally on the person beyond physical care.
The focus on problems, goals and approaches typically found on a care plan can be traced back to nursing school. Again, the focus fits the person’s physical and medical needs. However, activity and psychosocial needs are not necessarily problems. In fact, federal
Tag 248 Activities requires that ongoing activities be based on a person’s interests, not problems. The MDS points out that a person may strongly identify with past roles. And federal Tag 279 Comprehensive Care Plan requires that a person’s highest practicable level of physical, mental and psychosocial well- being be identified. All this helps move us past considering physical needs only.
One more regulation worth mentioning;
Tag 280 Resident Participation requires the resident to participate in planning his or her care. Some can do this very capably, some need families to do it for them, and in some cases staff is obligated to determine care as best they can from what they know about the person. Regardless of what it is called, residents should be involved in creating their care plans and living their lives to the fullest no matter their capabilities.
As these issues are already explored in several Action Pact resources, we do not do it here. Helpful resources: Regulatory Support and Considerations for Culture Change and Living Life to the Fullest: A Match Made in OBRA ’87 are available at www.culturechangenow.com.
Community Learning Circle Question
What do you think – is there a better term than “care plan” that goes beyond the medical to describe “my life?”
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