A major illness or injury can leave a person limited in his or her ability to function independently. The simplest tasks may seem like impossible tasks. Rehabilitation is a process that assists patients in learning to take care of themselves again and in achieving the safest and most independent lifestyle possible.
An acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital is a specialized acute care hospital licensed by the State to perform inpatient rehabilitation.. An acute care hospital is a place that takes care of individuals with a serious illness or injury for a short period of time. As an acute inpatient rehab patient, you can expect a minimum of three (3) hours of therapy per day at least 5 days a week, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and/or speech and language pathology. You will be seen daily by your pysiatrist, and other medical consults as needed. In addition, you may receive the services of a psychologist, neuropsychologist,case manager and dietician. You will also be provided 24-hour rehab nursing services. While you may receive many of the same services in another setting, such as sub-acute or skilled nursing, an acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital offers more intense coordinated, interdisciplinary services in order to help you recover more rapidly and increase the likelihood that you can return home.
Generally, a major illness can leave a patient weak and frail. However, stroke, brain injury, and many neurological or orthopedic conditions are among the many we serve. The goal of the acute rehabilitation team can help the person regain his or her strength and independence. When the patient may have preexisting conditions that place them at risk for further complications, the interdisciplinary team develops training that includes families and caregivers to educate them on the safest strategies for mobility, Activities of daily life, and preventing further complications with lifestyle changes. The Admissions department of our hospitals will give you clear guidelines as to the type of patient that would most benefit.
Patients come to us directly or through a variety of referrals, including physicians, health care professionals, insurance companies ,community agencies and personal referrals from friends and families. Before admission, an evaluation is performed to assess:
Diagnosis
Medical Condition
Endurance/Tolerance for activity
Cognition/Ability to participate
Motivation/Willingness to improve
Once we receive the appropriate medical information, evaluate the patient, review insurance and/or consult with the patient’s physicians, we determine if one of our Rehabilitation Hospitals is the most appropriate setting for the patient.
Rehabilitation is a custom-designed program for the patient that involves a team of professionals who will see to it that you receive proper training, exercise and practice. Of course, successful rehabilitation requires a great amount of understanding and support from family and friends. That is why we encourage family to become actively involved in the rehabilitation process.
No two people heal or learn at the same pace. How long one can expect to stay in the rehab hospital depends on the individual person and how well they are progressing. Generally, patients remain in rehab for as long as there is reasonable progress being made in several areas of functional ability. If the patient has reached maximum potential or if continued progress can be managed in an outpatient or home setting, discharge arrangements will be made. Patients with orthopedic diagnoses frequently progress well in 7 to 10 days, often continuing therapy at home or as an outpatient for several weeks. Some patients may require a longer stay before being discharged.
The answer to this question depends on many things, including your prior and current condition, your living situation, and your ability to participate in the programs. Some patients are able to go home in just a few days, others may require a few weeks. Overall, the length of stay for patients generally ranges between 10-20 days.
Most rooms are private. A few semi-private rooms are available for those patients who enjoy having company.
Your family is welcome during posted visiting hours; however, it is generally best for them to visit after 5:00pm. Remember, you will be very busy during the day having your rehabilitation treatments. The therapists will invite your family to participate in rehabilitation on certain days so your family can learn what they need to know when you go home.
You will be seen by a physician daily. The physicians are on-site, full time physicians who are readily available during the day, every day. They are available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our physicians are able to respond quickly to urgent or emergent needs. This daily contract allows rapid access to labs, x-rays, etc. and fast adjustments to pharmacological therapies.
The success of rehabilitation depends on the expertise of several professionals. To coordinate a customized rehabilitation program, an interdisciplinary team consisting of the patient’s physician, rehab nurse, therapists, psychologists, social worker and dietician meet each week, and whenever necessary, to discuss your progress, update the treatment plan and prepare discharge plans.
Whether you’re family or a friend, we know you try to be supportive when someone you care about is ill or injured. Often it is difficult to just stand by and watch this person struggle to do very simple tasks. The urge is to take over and do for the person. However, when you take over too quickly, you do not allow the person the chance to master the most basic of daily tasks. Understand that a great deal of our own self worth comes from our ability to maintain our dignity, if not our actual independence. The person you care about is struggling to master skills such as eating, personal hygiene and dressing sees these skills as measures of his or her self worth. Be supportive, ask before you take over and encourage your loved one to try again. Speed is not the goal. Progress is.
Visitors are very important to our residents, and a well-planned visit can be rewarding for both of you. When visiting a loved one, talk to the staff about the best time to visit your loved one. Coach your children on what to expect, and plan an activity such as working on a photo album, writing letters, playing cards or a game, or eating a meal together. If your loved one can manage, plan an activity outside of the center. Check with each Skilled Nursing Facility on its policy on bringing cherished pets for visits.
Making the move to a long-term care setting can be one of the most difficult decisions you make. To help you and your loved one get acquainted with the center, make sure you discuss these items with the health care providers so they can help make the transition as smooth as possible. What are the patient’s diet likes and dislikes? How mobile is she? How much can she manage her personal care and hygiene? What were her former living conditions like? What support did she have? What role does religion play in your loved one’s life? What are your loved one’s routines and habits, as well as hobbies? What about mental capacity? Does your loved one fear new surroundings? Does she socialize easily?
As the child or spouse of an aging or ill loved one, guilt or fear may prevent you from getting the help you need. Our admissions team will be happy to provide you with literature support, community support programs and information about our services, including respite care, to help you take a break and get the rest you may need.
For short-term stays focused on rehabbing a patient home, ask the Skilled Nursing or Rehabilitation Facility about its successful outcomes treating patients with your or your loved one’s illness, injury or disease. Ask about the staff’s knowledge about post-hospital care. Tour the center for cleanliness, friendliness of staff and amenities that are important to you. Ask to sample food and visit with patients similar to you or your loved one.
The Medicaid program provides medical benefits to low-income people who have no medical insurance or inadequate medical insurance. The federal government establishes general guidelines for the program, but each state establishes the program’s requirements including eligibility. You can find out more about the Medicaid program through cms.gov or by talking to our admissions team.
Medicare is a health insurance program for people 65 or older or people under 65 with certain disabilities or end-stage renal disease. Medicare does not cover all expenses and is not designed to pay for long-term custodial care. so it is important to understand the program. For patients meeting requirements, Medicare helps cover the costs for hospital stays, skilled nursing home stays up to 100 days and hospice care. Our admission team members will be happy to provide you with current rates and coverage.
Get started by including your primary care physician in the decision-making process. He or she can tell you about your loved one’s physical, mental and emotional well-being so that you can start to understand what care will be the most beneficial.
Experience skilled, compassionate care in the comfort and privacy of your own space. Trusted home health partner by South Florida leading hospitals for your continued recovery. We’ll care for you in your home, assisted living apartment or hospital room — anywhere in Miami-Dade or Broward County.
Give us a call. We answer our phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We’ll arrange a time to visit you, your family and/or any authorized representative to fully discuss your particular home care situation and how we might help.
Together, we’ll go over the care your family needs and the care we provide. We’ll answer all of your questions regarding in-home care services and costs. Then, we’ll begin putting together your Patient-centered Plan of Care, specific to the needs of you or your loved one and matching you or your loved one with the right caregiver. Usually, care can begin within a few days.
Although the words sound similar, these two services are actually different.
Home care, (also called in-home care,) helps people with daily tasks of living. Examples of home care assistance include:
Home health care is skilled care: treatment prescribed by a doctor to help a patient recover from surgery, illness or injury or to manage medical needs. Examples of home health services include:
Medicare and traditional health insurance typically doesn’t pay for hourly personal care services like these. However, some long-term care insurance policies do and we may be able to provide documentation to help you obtain the best coverage possible.
Generally, yes. As part of a doctor-prescribed medical treatment plan, home health care services are usually covered by both Medicare and traditional health insurance plans.
For services under the Medicare benefit, you will need to be under the care of a physician who is qualified to order home care services. We will need an order before we can start your care. If you have a Managed Care Plan we will need an order and authorization to provide skilled services such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy Medical Social Worker, or speech and language therapy. You don’t need authorization to request private-pay, non-healthcare support like a home home health aide. You choose the services you want, when to start those services and how often those services are used.
If you request assistance with billing a private insurance policy (such as long-term care insurance) for our services, we’re happy to help with the entire “benefits coordination” process. This includes providing any documentation you need for reimbursement by an insurance carrier.
Our skilled nurses can administer medications. We can always assist in reminding individuals to take their medications. In fact, medication reminders are one of our most requested services. We can also assess and report any side effects to your physician.
Our goal is to establish a long-term caregiving relationship with your loved one. Should your family want to request another caregiver for any reason, we’ll search for a match until your family is happy. We understand that a strong rapport and trust with a caregiver is vital to a successful home care experience.
If your loved one receives care for many hours in a day or at different times of the day throughout the week, it may be necessary to schedule more than one caregiver in a given week. If your family requires multiple caregivers, our goal is the same: we want you to be satisfied and happy. We’ll do what it takes to make sure we achieve that goal.
Yes. We encourage your involvement in the decision-making process. And with our proprietary screening and selection system, you can rest assured that we do our best to take the guesswork out of matching the right caregiver to you and your family. However, you must be satisfied. We always try to accommodate any requests you may have for a change in caregivers (as allowed by law).
Yes. Every caregiver is a Right at Home employee. To help ensure the safety and well-being of our clients, we perform a criminal history background clearance and then cover each caregiver with general liability and workers’ compensation insurance.
When selecting a home care agency, gather information about how long it has been in business, the range of services provided to meet your needs, the staff’s knowledge in caring for patients with your particular needs, and if staff are insured and bonded. Ask to meet with staff and assess their commitment to meeting your physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
Assisted living is a long-term care option for elders who need a level of assistance higher than that of a retirement community, but not as extensive as a medical or nursing home or hospital. Assisted living facilities provide an independent lifestyle with customized assistance.
Assisted living communities offer a unique combination independent living and care. Unlike nursing homes and other medical facilities, assisted living facilities allow elders to maintain a sense of independence and involvement in a social community, while at the same time provide the assistance with daily life and peace of mind that comes with a professional support team.
Assisted Living communities are suited for residents who need assistance in their daily lives, including preparing their meals, facilitating transportation, maintaining their homes, assisting with hygiene, and managing their medication. Assisted living facilities are also good options for some residents living with disorders such as Alzheimer’s, as well as mobility limitations, incontinence, or other conditions common in one’s senior years.
Typical amenities available in assisted living homes may include personal care assistance (bathing, toileting, dressing, eating), access to health care and medical services, on-site social and spiritual activities, recreation and exercise facilities, wellness programs, transportation arrangements, 24-hour security, laundry service, and housekeeping.
It should be an integral part of your decision-making process, urge experts at ALFA. When making a major life decision such as choosing an assisted living community, it’s important to be an informed consumer. Be sure that as a resident you’ll be afforded respect, privacy, religious freedom, the right to voice grievances should they arise, maintenance of your personal finances, and control over health care decisions. Additionally, inquire about internal regulations regarding pets, alcohol, smoking, and other quality of life issues, to see if they correspond with your personal preferences.
Choosing the right assisted living residence takes a lot of research and legwork on your part. It’s imperative to compare facilities in terms of unit availability, services offered, cost, and overall philosophy of care. Resources like Seniors for Living empower you to be proactive in requesting information and communicating directly with assisted living professionals. Upon hearing from an assisted living facility’s representative, set up tours at residences of interest, observe residents to get a sense of each facility’s atmosphere, and most important, be sure your individual needs will be met.
Before we outline an individual plan of service, we evaluate each resident to determine needs:
Hospice provides palliative care, which is a specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. Palliative care focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative care can be received by patients at any time, at any stage of illness whether it be terminal or not. This specialized care fills a gap for patients who want and need comfort at any stage of any disease, whether terminal or chronic. Since there are no time limits on when you can receive palliative care, in a palliative care program, there is no expectation that life-prolonging therapies will be avoided.
Catholic Health Services offers Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation services, which include palliative care for those with short-term or long-term care needs.
We’re pleased to maintain rewarding partnerships with Nova Southeastern University (NSU); FIU (Florida International University); University of Miami (UM) and FVI (Florida Vocational Institute), MRU, Robert Morgan, FNU and others. Contact us to find out more about these partnership opportunities.
We do! If you’re interested in becoming a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), ask us about our Florida Vocational Institute (FVI) CNA Cohort Program. CHS may be able to fund your program training in full, providing you with a rewarding new career!
Hospice is specialized end-of-life care to improve your quality of life. Hospitals focus on treating acute injuries or illnesses. Hospice is specifically designed to provide comfort, pain management, family connection, spiritual support, and other services. Hospice is a special type of palliative care to ensure comfort and ease for those with a life-limiting illness.
An interdisciplinary team of professionals provide pain control, symptom management, psychological and spiritual support for the patient. Hospice volunteers also provide support to the patient and family. Hospice care can be delivered at home or in a comfortable inpatient care center, enabling families to remain together in peace, comfort, and dignity.
Anyone can refer a patient to Catholic Hospice. To be admitted, a patient must:
Hospice begins with a written authorization from your physician. Once we receive this authorization, an admissions representative will be available 24/7 to schedule a hospice evaluation when you or your physician requests.
Reach our team now: we can share more about how hospice works; insurance coordination; referral help and much more, as well as answer any other questions you have.
Medicare-certified hospices provide nursing care, social services, physician services, counseling services (including spiritual and dietary), home care aides, bereavement services, physical, occupational and speech therapy services.
Short term, in-patient care (for respite, pain control and symptom management), continuous care in the home, and medical equipment and supplies (including drugs and biologicals) are also available. Additional services can be offered. Therefore, the range of hospice services may vary based on individualized patient needs.
Hospice services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance and managed care plans. Catholic Hospice raises funds for indigent patients who have no insurance or whose insurance does not cover all costs of care.
A healthcare advance directive is a written or oral statement made and witnessed in advance of serious illness or injury to address medical situations that may arise when a person becomes unable to make one’s own decisions.
There are two forms of advance directives: the designation of healthcare surrogate, which authorizes a person to make decisions for the incapacitated patient, and the living will, which gives instructions to physicians and caregivers regarding medical care and treatment at the end of life. The Catholic Declaration on Life and Death merges both forms into one directive.
Every adult, 18 years of age and older, should designate in writing at least one healthcare surrogate to assist them in reviewing treatment options for an unexpected health crisis.
The healthcare surrogate should be chosen carefully as someone who will represent the patient’s wishes regarding medical care and treatment or act in the patient’s best interest if those wishes are unknown.
The Catholic Declaration on Life and Death is a healthcare advance directive for Florida’s Catholics and is approved by the Bishops of Florida. This directive conforms to both Florida law and the teaching of the Church. Designating a healthcare surrogate and providing guidance for end-of-life decisions is the best way to ensure that morally acceptable procedures are followed if you become incapacitated or unable to express your own wishes in the event of a medical emergency.
For more information on Advance Directives, please read: Understanding The Catholic Declaration on Life and Death and Five Wishes.