A Care Management Assessment gives Umbrella’s care manager, the patient, and the family a clear picture of the patient’s:
- Situation,
- Needs,
- Affordable care options, and
- Resources.
It is one of the most important steps in the process of providing quality care for your loved one. Each assessment is individual; there is no one-size-fits-all solution in eldercare and caregiving. The professional geriatric care manager offers creative, custom solutions for better outcomes.
During the assessment, we review multiple aspects of the patient’s current health, legal, and financial situation. A key element of the assessment is reviewing the patient’s functional status and daily living challenges, which can help anticipate problems, such as falls or poor nutrition and dehydration. The completed assessment serves as an accurate health and personal record.
Our expert care managers assess patients in their home. Through careful observation, our care manager may notice slight changes and warning signs that would otherwise go unnoticed. Common examples include:
- A patient may have had some minor falls, which they neglected to mention to family members.
- A patient may have difficulty reaching in the kitchen, which limits their cooking/diet.
- Vision changes or fear of falling may have led to the patient “sponge bathing” because of concerns in the bath or shower.
The comprehensive assessment also uncovers your loved one’s concerns and desires — patients are often more willing to share this information with a care manager than with family members who they want to protect from the prospect of caring for a dependent loved one.
Our care managers provide dignified support and seek solutions that will work for all involved. Often, we are able to provide not only a better picture of the situation and recommendations, but help patients and families agree on the best care options to assist patients and family caregivers alike.
Once the assessment is complete, either family caregivers or an Umbrella care manager can begin to implement the steps outlined in the care plan.
What The Assessment Includes
Our Comprehensive Assessment is a thorough evaluation of a patient’s situation and provides the foundation for the care plan. In the assessment:
- We gather initial information over the phone and make an appointment for the care manager to visit the patient in his/her environment. The care manager assesses problems and concerns and discusses the best approach to the situation.
- The care manager completes a thorough medical, financial, and social history. This information is compiled via consultations with the patient, spouse, family members, physicians, support services, and other professionals as indicated.
- We then create a complete medical file that includes confirmation of diagnoses and medications and the medical history.
- We create a financial history that includes an insurance review (health, long-term care, etc.). Legal documents including any advance directives are ascertained and referrals made for review or completion of legal documents/services. Finances are reviewed if requested, or in the event a client requires budgeting of services.
- We establish a social history, including a review of the patient’s current social support network.
- We thoroughly evaluate the current living arrangement, including the need for adaptive devices and environmental modifications, or the move to a different environment or care facility.
- We evaluate the patient’s ability to complete activities of daily living (i.e. shower/bathe, dress, prepare meals, move, etc.).
- We evaluate the patient’s cognitive abilities.
- We compile a formal report from this data with specific recommendations to improve the patient’s quality of life. We provide the report to all relevant parties and review it with them. Referrals to various professionals, services, and programs are included in the report, as appropriate.
- Finally, we develop a plan of care that may include the care manager’s assistance with recommendations/specific projects or ongoing monitoring and assistance. The family, of course, may implement the care plan.
To learn more about our comprehensive assessment, we invite you to send us a message, give us a call at 845-723-0536, or send an email to info@umbrellacaremanagement.com.
