Cancer Care - Partnering with Home Health and Hospice

Cancer touches nearly everyone at some point in their life. According to the National Cancer Institute, over 1,700,000 new cases of cancer will have been diagnosed in 2018. February is National Cancer Prevention Month and a good opportunity to target oncology providers in your service area. Incorporate cancer care into your first quarter marketing strategy to promote patient outcomes improved by partnering with Home Health. Home Health Care Benefits include:

• Improved condition management

• Patient and family counseling

• Condition assessment

• Home safety and emergency education

• Medication education

• Physical, occupational, and speech therapies

It is estimated that cancer will have claimed 600,00 American lives in 2018. Hospice offers premium end-of-life-care for those unfortunate patients whose cancer is progressive, metastasized, or no longer responsive to treatment. Hospice Care includes:

• Individualized care plans

• Optional home care with support services

• A support team of doctors, nurses, technicians, chaplains, and social workers

• Symptom relief and pain management

• Spiritual counseling

• Respite care for caregivers

Participate in Cancer Prevention throughout the month of February:

• Share cancer prevention methods through your professional and social network:

  Avoiding all forms of tobacco.

  Maintaining a healthy weight.

  Exercising regularly.

  Eating healthy with plenty of fruits and vegetables.

  Limiting alcohol consumption.

  Protecting your skin.

  Knowing yourself, your family history, and your risks.

  Having regular check-ups and appropriate cancer screening tests.

• Promote the importance of early detection. The National Cancer Institute has downloads to help you get started.

• Promote a healthy diet by hosting a collaborative class with an emphasis on foods that help prevent  cancer. Invite local health-oriented restaurateurs to participate.

• Visit oncologists in your service area to educate them about the care you provide to cancer patients. Take along your comprehensive patient education guides that help your patients stay on track and achieve better outcomes.

• Visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website for free cancer-related fact sheets, posters and other educational materials.

Visit tagwebstore.com for your Home Health and Hospice print media. 

Cancer Prevention Month: A time for home care to step up outreach

February is National Cancer Prevention Month. With so many forms of the disease and such high prevalence, cancer touches nearly every American family in some way. Make solid efforts this month to increase awareness of effective cancer prevention and early detection, as well as how home health, hospice or private duty home care can help.

• Smoking is one of the greatest risk factors for developing cancers of the head, neck and lung. It also may place people at increased risk for other types of cancer. Try to get the smokers in your agency, in the offices of your referral sources, and among your clients to quit for good by sponsoring a Quit Tobacco Day. Although the Great American Smokeout isn’t until November, the American Cancer Society’s webpage for that observance has tons of effective ideas and activities.
• Find all the trinkets and promotional items you will need to get the conversation going about this month’s initiative by calling TAG Partners at 866.232.6477. We can direct you to the items that you need, such as pens, tote bags, mugs and other promotional items.
• Team up with your local hospitals and sponsor a mammography voucher program. These programs provide education, counseling, breast cancer screening and diagnostic services to low-income women in your community. Have your partner hospitals or women’s care centers agree to run the diagnostic screens for women free of charge. This program has provided services for women across the country. For more information, contact your local Komen for the Cure organization.
• Promote early detection by creating a flyer with basic guidelines patients can follow to increase their success of detecting cancer early. Leave these in local physicians’ waiting rooms. Here’s some basic information to start.
• Promote healthy diet changes as an effective way to prevent cancer. This month, volunteer to teach a 30-minute class about healthy diet and foods that can help prevent cancer. Here’s a great place to start your research.

January 2014: New Year, New Plan

Now that January is here, it’s time to push marketing efforts into high gear and get focused on growing referrals and revenue in 2014. Let’s start by focusing on February’s emphasis on cancer awareness and prevention. February is National Cancer Prevention Month, and Feb. 4 is World Cancer Day. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 13 million Americans are living a current or previous diagnosis of cancer. Experts estimate about 41 percent of all men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lives. Spread the word about the seriousness of this disease and how home care can help.

• Distribute flyers about the benefits of to hospice the oncologists in your area. Be sure to discuss the appropriate time for hospice admission. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/hospice-specialty-care-flyers.php.
• Place brochures about cancer and your agency’s services for patients with the disease in the waiting rooms of oncologists, surgeons and infusion centers. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/disease-information-brochures.php.
• Demonstrate to referral sources that your agency is serious about making patients active participants in their care. Patient Education Guides not only help patients be more compliant and informed about their condition, but they are a tangible example of your agency’s dedication to patient care and unnecessary hospitalizations. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.

The heart takes center stage this month. Not only does the organ synonymous with love find its way onto store shelves and greeting cards, but it’s a vivid reminder that it’s also the time of year when we should all stop and focus on keeping our own hearts healthy. February is American Heart Month, and National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week and Cardiovascular Professionals Week take place Feb. 9-15. Remind people in your community that one of the best ways they can show their love for someone else is by taking care of his or her own heart.

• Participate in a local health fair and distribute flyers about heart disease, high blood pressure, myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
• Spread the word about your agency’s commitment to heart health with “We’re all about heart” flyers, brochures and magnets that highlight heart disease and congestive heart failure. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/heartmonth.php.
• Use blood pressure logs to help patients stay on top of their condition while educating them about proper blood pressure tracking. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/bloodpressurelog.php.

You already know you wouldn’t be in business without your patients. It’s time to let them know how much you appreciate them. National Patient Recognition Day is Feb. 3. Make sure you do everything you can to convey the message that they are the reason you work hard every day to provide stellar service.

• Connect with seniors and raise awareness of your agency with puzzle books personalized with your logo and contact information. Display them in referral source waiting rooms, distribute them at senior centers, and offer them to your patients, too. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/puzzlebook.php.
• Give patients a powerful tool to improve compliance, disease monitoring and overall health. Patient Scorecard Logs are informative, helpful and easy to use. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-scorecard-logs.php.
• Host a community education class on a topic such as nutrition, making the most out of your doctor’s visit, or understanding Medicare. In addition to the participants at local senior centers, be sure to invite your clients’ family members to attend. Find ready-made classes at www.tagwebstore.com/healthmatters-education-series.php.