Page 16 - This Month at Sansum Clinic – June 2021

Ridley-Tree Cancer Center IS MY PATIENT READY FOR PALLIATIVE CARE?
Do you ever find it hard to explain why you want your patient to see the Palliative Care team? We like to use the term “Supportive Care” when explaining to people what we do. Our team consists of a physician,
a nurse practitioner, two nurses, a social worker/counselor, a medical assistant, and a team coordinator. We help patients who are facing serious illness, by addressing physical symptoms, psychological challenges, social issues, and spiritual health. Many of our patients interact with every person on our team during their illness, and we encourage them to bring their family or friends to their visits with us. We try to add an extra layer of support for those who are struggling with life-limiting illness. We often see patients with advanced heart or pulmonary disease, neurologic disorders, advanced kidney disease, and cancers. We will explore patient’s goals of care, and complete advance directives, when needed. We have
a volunteer notary service available for helping patients complete their important documents. We have Spanish speaking staff available for interpretation during our visits. We work closely with the home-based palliative care teams in the county (VNA, Assisted, Central Coast). Our team is located in the Ridley Tree Cancer Center.
We would like to use this space regularly to share stories and educate. Do you have topics you would like to hear more about? Have you heard from your patients about their experiences with our team? We would like to better serve you, our colleagues, as well as our patients. Please see our Referral Guidelines here, and on thePoint.
Sansum Clinic provides Palliative Care for any patient in our community, with or without a referral. With telemedicine, we have patients stretching from Bakersfield to Oxnard. We are available to you and your patients, by calling (805) 879-0675.
PALLIATIVE CARE REFERRAL GUIDELINES Patient Population
uAge 16 or older
u Patients do not need a referral to see us
Diagnoses
u Advanced lung, kidney, or neurologic disease
uClass IV heart failure
uSevere life-threatening illness or trauma
u All stage IV malignancies, and any active malignancy
u Any advanced end-stage disease with multiple co-morbidities
Approach to Care
u Provide relief of pain or other distressing symptoms related to malignancy, or advanced end stage disease sequelae
u Integrate the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
u Team approach to address the needs of the patient and family
u Explore patient values and goals, to assist with medical decisions (goals of care, treatment options, code status)
u Assist with advance care planning (advance directives, POLST) uProvide phone triage and support between clinic visits
Pain Management
u We manage pain symptoms in most patients with the above advance disease processes, but will refer patients with addiction or narcotic misuse to our Sansum Pain Management group, or other local pain specialists, if necessary
Contact Us
Office phone: (805) 879-0675
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This Month at Sansum Clinic - June 2021