Heart Disease and Home Health

The Fall of the year is a time that traditionally brings family, friends and celebration to mind. It’s also a time when many people tend to overindulge in food and drink. While this behavior might not have repercussions for young healthy adults, adults with poor cardio heath could be increasing their chance of developing Congestive Heart Failure.

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is the progressive deterioration of heart function as a result of any number of cardiovascular disorders or conditions that overwork the heart. CHF is not curable but it can be managed in its earlier stages with medication, lifestyle changes, and careful monitoring. Care plans vary depending on the underlying cause but many require some form of cardiac rehabilitation. Choosing home health as a rehabilitation partner can maximize a patient’s activity tolerance, provide better case management, and help identify any signs of disease progression.

Home health care improves outcomes for CHF patients while minimizing the risk of complication and readmission. Many agencies are now using telemonitoring systems to closely monitor their CHF patients. Telemonitoring has been found to decrease hospital admissions, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce overall cost of care. 

As the disease progresses home health support is a good solution for managing medicines, and transitioning after a hospital stay. Advanced CHF patients should consider a private duty care service to help with daily tasks, housekeeping, and running errands. Remind your referral sources about the benefits of including home health, private duty, and hospice as care partners for their CHF patients.

Get the word Out:

We have disease specific materials for Home Health, and Hospice that provide patient education while promoting your agency’s services. Visit the TAG webstore for information on our CHF Management Guide for Physician flyers, CHF Health Care flyers for patients, and our  Guide to Hospice and the Patient with Heart Disease brochures.

Cholesterol Awareness

National Cholesterol Education Month is observed every September to raise awareness about cholesterol and its effect on cardiovascular disease and stroke. It’s a good time to supply your referral partners with patient brochures on these diseases.

Cholesterol is an essential substance produced in the liver and carried throughout the body by proteins. There are two types of cholesterol:  LDL, or bad cholesterol, and HDL, the good cholesterol. High levels of LDL become a concern because they can create fatty deposits in blood vessels which contributes to the development of atherosclerosis, significantly increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke.

HDL actually promotes artery health by reducing inflammation and blocking the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. There are indications that HDL may even have the ability to pull some of the cholesterol out of arterial walls and transport it back to the liver where it can be removed from the body.

Cholesterol can largely be regulated by diet and exercise. However, some people have an inherited propensity to high cholesterol called familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) that can’t effectively be controlled without medication. People with diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, hypothyroidism, or women who are pregnant tend to have higher levels of cholesterol and should be closely monitored.

A combined cholesterol level that is less that 200mg/dL is considered healthy.

Standard Cholesterol Guidelines:

LDL levels should be less than 100 mg/dL

  • 100-129 mg/dL is acceptable for those not at risk for heart disease
  • 130 -159 mg/dL is borderline high
  • 160-189 mg/dL is high
  • 190 mg/dL or higher is very high

HDL levels should be kept at 60 mg/dL or higher

  • 41 mg/dL -59 mg/dL is borderline low
  • 40 mg/dL or less is a major risk of heart disease

Get involved by:

  • Sharing cholesterol information throughout the month of September on your social media feeds.
  • Partnering with local healthy eateries to host lunch-n-learns for local non-profits that align with your mission. Provide information about cholesterol monitoring and demonstrate your expertise and value as a Home Health provider.
  • Providing your public health center with brochures about disease prevention.

Visit tabwebstore .com for all your Home Health and Hospice Marketing essentials.