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STEPS TO DEVELOP A CHILDREN'S HOSPICE, PALLIATIVE OR END-OF-LIFE CARE PROGRAM
Taken from Implementation Manual: Establishing Hospice Programs for Children and their Families by Paul R. Brenner and Sarah Zarbock, Children's Hospice International The information found here is not complete and should only be used as a guide. For comprehensive information to develop a program, please contact CHI to order this manual.
| Step 1: |
Ask yourself: Why do you want to establish a hospice program to serve the needs of children with life-limiting conditions and the members of their families? It is important to understand why you are involved and, if you are part of an institution, what are the institutions motivations and expectations. |
| Step 2: |
Identify the needs, community interests, and organizational interests. Also, become aware of other planning issues that may arise, such as who is in the planning group and to whom is this process accountable.
The following are only a few of the things you will need to develop:
- A tool to assess the needs of the community
- Direct contact with families being affect by the loss of a child
- Determination of service/catchment area for the proposed program
- Identification of sources of funding and resources for planning and start up
- Creation of project plan with goals objectives and budgets
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| Step 3: |
Do a needs assessment in order to get basic demographic information for the area you are to serve and talk to people, such as family members, physicians, nurses, and other heath care workers. Examine the scope of children's needs. |
| Step 4: |
Determine the organization structure that would best fit the community's needs. For example, it may be best to associate within a free-standing hospice or hospital to cut down on costs, especially if you do not have a large number of children in need. |
| Step 5: |
Carefully research the regulatory issues for your proposed program or organization. |
| Step 6: |
Begin to define your scope of care and admissions criteria. These basic policy issues will affect who will be admitted and why.
Here are some questions you will want to answer:
- What are the treatment goals that are appropriate to provide?
- What will be included/excluded as part of palliative or comfort-oriented care?
- How will the program manage the disease process from the time of admission to the time of death?
- How will the differences between costs and reimbursements be met?
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| Step 7: |
Determine the governance of your program/organization. There will be a significant difference in the ways in which governance will be structured in a program that is self-contained and complete in and of itself and one that is affiliated or a part of an existing program or institution. |
| Step 8: |
Address the financial issues of developing a new program. Can it be demonstrated that the new program will be cost-effective, deliver an appropriate level of care, and provide an acceptable level of quality? |
| Step 9: |
Determine how the following program components will be provided:
- Office management
- Financial management
- Human resources
- Medical records
- Marketing
- Public relations
- Development
- Quality improvement/utilization review
- Supervisions/support
- Planning
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