Phishing Email May Have Impacted Personal Information for Some. Learn More
Our mission is to preserve dignity and quality of life during advanced illness through education, advocacy, and symptom relief.
Here at Atrium Health Navicent (AHN) Palliative Care, we strive to provide the highest quality holistic care to those who suffer from life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses. Patient-centered and family-focused care that targets quality of life issues, comfort care, and symptom management is provided by an integrated multidisciplinary team with the goal of relieving physical, spiritual and/or psychosocial suffering.
Our Vision is to lead the community in prioritizing quality of life across all aspects of medical care.
We believe that Palliative care should not be limited to the hospital. And in looking towards the future, we hope to carry our mission and grow our team in the outpatient setting for greater positive impact on our community.
While our team can expertly control symptoms and other issues associated with advanced illness, the process of how we provide extra layers of support is special. At AHN, our palliative care program is uniquely structured with a foundation in counseling, employing Masters prepared counselors in addition to Advanced Practice Providers and Palliative Physicians. This model, called the Transitions and Palliative Care Therapy (TPCT) Model, has been field tested with over 10,000 hospitalized patients since its inception in 2004. By integrating principles of family systems theory into standard medical practice, our Palliative Care Counselors assist patients and families make complex decisions about advanced illness while diminishing potential for conflict, communication deficits, time constraints and knowledge gaps. A Novel Approach to Hospital Palliative Care: An Expanded Role for Counselors | Journal of Palliative Medicine (liebertpub.com)
An important part of our program is shared decision making. Our medical providers are experts in medical treatment options while you, patients and families, are the experts on your own individual experiences, values, and goals. Shared decision making allows us to work together to prepare the best personalized plan of care. Our process for developing a personalized plan of care involves time devoted to intensive family meetings. These meetings help everyone understand what can be expected regarding an illness trajectory and potential treatment options. These in-depth conversations ensure that care is matched to the goals and priorities of patients and family. Topics frequently discussed in these conversations include your understanding of your illness, how your illness affects you physically, functionally, emotionally, socially, spiritually/existentially, what matters most to you in life and your definition of a ‘good death.’ We may also discuss Code Status, legal decision makers and legal documents, like advance directives. This information helps develop a personalized treatment plan that incorporates the unique values and preferences of each individual patient. Once a plan is determined, we coordinate and communicate the plan of care among providers all the while offering emotional support to you.
As a teaching hospital, it is common to encounter learners of all levels and our Palliative Care team is no different. We frequently have learners on our teams who are medical students, resident physicians, fellow physicians, nurse practitioner students, physician assistant students and counseling interns. We believe that all healthcare teammates should have experience with and training in communication to determine personalized treatment plans. If you are interested in learning more about our medical education opportunities, please visit Graduate Medical Education - Atrium Health Navicent (navicenthealth.org)
Sources
Ackermann MD, Richard. Navicent Textbook of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. 2020. --compilation and summaries of journal articles for fellowship program
Center for Advance Palliative Care website