October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an international awareness campaign run by leading breast cancer charities. The likelihood of being diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as other types of cancer, rises as we get older. However, the disease is sometimes only caught when someone is admitted to hospital for emergency treatment, or another medical reason. The sooner cancer can be diagnosed, the faster major decisions can be made and treatment or ongoing pain relief can begin.
When care home residents are newly diagnosed with cancer, or receive news that an existing cancer has changed status, this can be extremely distressing. The repercussions of such news can reach far beyond the person themselves, affecting family and friends, as well as care staff and medical professionals working to support the person with their medical concerns. Being able to rely on digital care planning software such as Care Vision can help bring order and clarity to a very difficult situation in a number of ways.
Communications and connections
When one of your residents is faced with a diagnosis of cancer or similar, effective, timely communications are crucial. There are usually several medical appointments that need to be arranged, attended and supported. Care Vision’s suite of care admin support tools includes hospital transfer, which collects and shares key biological and medical data of residents needing to be admitted to hospital. This is done confidentially and securely to ensure data is protected without compromising the need to get information to the right people as quickly as possible. Likewise, the newly added GP Connect function allows internal and external medical staff to access residents’ medical records in real time via their unique NHS number for immediate treatment and support.
Physical healthcare and advice
Cancer diagnoses are often accompanied by a plethora of information, advice, tips and resources, which can be overwhelming for the person and their family and support network. When a care home resident is facing such a situation, Care Vision’s record keeping and healthcare tools can help cut through the noise and provide a more streamlined support system. It can do this via the professional medical support tools mentioned above, as well as via the monitoring tools, such as fluid and nutrition checks, weight management, falls records, emotional and behavioural assessments and more. The eMAR medication system helps keep track of any medicines that residents are prescribed, as well as any side effects and changes to regimes. All of these features help build a rounded picture of the resident’s physical state of health and assist in tailoring their care plan.
Mental wellbeing and emotional support
People who live with cancer can benefit hugely from enhanced mental health assistance and emotional wellbeing support to help them get their heads around what’s happening to them and think about the future and what they want to do. Care Vision can help share key information confidentially and securely with counsellors and support staff, as well as update personal records to ensure that residents’ preferences around communication styles, friendship networks and life experiences are all up to date. Emotional and behavioural monitoring tools keep track of any alarming changes in residents’ mental health and wellbeing too. Finally, Care Vision can help care home managers keep track of staff training needs and courses undertaken to ensure that residents have trained support available when they need it from among the care home’s own teams.
Family and friends
Finally, Care Vision is a highly effective tools to bring together everyone involved in a resident’s life at the care home, including their friends, family and social network that supports them in their health and social wellbeing. As well as the personal record tool, which brings all key data into one place about each resident, the system has many other ways to help people stay in touch. These include tools that facilitate providing updates, sending and receiving messages and sharing photographs and anecdotes between care professionals, the residents and their loved ones. Living with cancer can feel very isolating without the right level of support and care. Care Vision’s suite of tools and features can make the journey less confusing, easier to tackle and help those affected feel more supported and less alone.