Challenges
to be helping them any more.
It’s at these times that a strong
palliative-care team can make a
difference.
“A palliative-care team can
help the family as a whole man-
age the care of the person,” said
Nancy Reitman, MA, BSN, RN,
MSCN, of the National MS
Society’s Professional Resource
Center. “The team can maximize
all the different medical, finan-
cial, social and wellness interven-
tions that can help people opti-
mize their lives.”
Reitman stressed that
palliative-care teams can
coordinate:
•;Pain;and;symptom;manage-
ment and other aspects of
medical care
•;Medical;equipment,;supplies,
and home accessibility services
•;Financial;resources
• Transportation
•;Counseling;and;emotional;and
spiritual support
•;Family;respite;care;and;services
for caregiving.
Putting it all in place
A palliative-care team is usually
coordinated by a case manager
who is a social worker or a nurse.
It can involve a variety of specialists, ranging from chaplains to
physicians. Some palliative-care
programs are independent, run
by private agencies; others are
part of hospitals and assisted-liv-ing facilities. Because the goal is
to keep people living the best life
they can for as long as they can,
the team usually strives to keep
“The message of palliative
care is, ‘Let’s make today the
best day.’ ”
people living at home as long as
possible, because that’s what most
people prefer.
“Palliative care isn’t just about
pain and symptom manage-
ment, although that’s a big part
of it,” said Gayle Bereskin, DO,
chief medical officer for Agape
Healthcare, an independent
palliative-care and hospice agency
in Denver. “We go over the goals
of care regularly with patients
and their families. We help clarify
wishes of the patients and their
families and formulate a plan of
care accordingly. It’s about giving
people the support they need and
the ability to make choices about
their care.”
Lowery at Home LINKS
recently worked with Mary*, a
woman in her 60s who had sud-
den loss of vision related to her
MS. She was afraid to leave her
house, even for doctor’s appoint-
ments. “We brought in a home
care team with a nurse and social
worker, along with services for
the blind,” Lowery explained.
“They did a safety evaluation,
got her counseling and provided
her;with;visual;equipment;like
talking books and a talking
clock. The goal was to help her
feel more independent, and
gradually, with physical therapy,
she started to feel more comfort-
able about walking outside the
house.”
Another Home LINKS cli-
ent, Joan*, was able to stay in
her home with her husband
and teenage children after her
personal care attendant left the
job when Joan’s MS worsened.
The team from the Greater
New England Chapter found
her a new attendant, ordered an
adapted phone and a hydrau-
lic lift to help with transfers
between a bed and a chair (and
found resources to pay for
them) and arranged for in-home
mental health counseling, said
Ronnie Gullette, MEd, LMHC,
LSW, LRC, a clinical-care coor-
dinator who works with Home
LINKS. A State Health Insur-
ance Program for the Elderly
and Disabled counselor was
brought in to evaluate Joan’s cur-
rent health insurance to ensure
the best possible coverage.
Finding a local program
Only one in 10 people with
MS;will;eventually;require;a
skilled care facility, but they too
can access palliative care while
living there. The North Star
Rehabilitation and Care Community in Denver is home to 28
