What does Long Time Care mean to me...

Long Term Care to me is a health system designed to provide care to an individual for an extended period of time. For many skilled nursing or skilled health care has to be available for extensive periods in order for full recovery; from accident victims to palliative care. Nursing Homes, Rehabilitation Services and Hospice care immediately pop into mind.  Another aspect of Long Term Care (LTC) is the stigma that LTC carries, nursing home abuse, overworked nurses and disgruntled employees dealing with overcrowded facilities. Seldom do we think of the millions of patients that learn how to walk for a second time, or the  elderly that have no family to provide basic care or even the care (physical and spiritual) that both patients and families receive from hospice workers. 

What I know about LTC is that sooner or later someone we care for (or even us) will need to use the services of a long term care facility. For that reason we need to improve the service being provided, we need to streamline the delivery of care and we need to change the way we think about these necessary health care facilities. This semester I hope to learn more about the history, development and role these organizations have in our health care system. I also hope to learn where these organizations should be heading, that way when I am part of the United States Health System, I am able to better serve my patients.