Programs
- Short Term Support
- Medium Term Support
- Long Term Support
Short Term Support
Hospital in the Home (HITH)
Stable children requiring daily medical intervention that would otherwise require hospitalisation, can access Hospital in the Home. This service provides for the completion of acute care at home by qualified nursing and allied health staff.
Examples of appropriate HITH referrals would include:
- ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
- central vascular catheter and port care
- chemotherapy
- daily dressings
- daily or twice daily intravenous antibiotics
- diabetes care
- eczema care
- Insuflon care or injections
- overnight oximetry studies
The aim of the HITH program is to reduce anxiety for the child and family by treating them in their own environment where there is less disruption to daily routine.
Medium Term Support
Post Acute Care (PAC)
Post Acute Care provides a maximum of four weeks of home based support for families of children with increased care needs as a result of their hospital treatment.
Any child whose care needs on discharge have significantly increased is eligible for this service.
Examples of appropriate PAC referrals would include:
- assistance with personal care for children immobilised in plaster
- dressings
- nurse support visits for children discharged with tube feeding
- pin-site dressings and education
The aim of the PAC program is to provide short-term support to families to minimise the increased demands on them from the increased care needs of the child, and thus prevent re-admission to hospital.
Long Term Support
Family Choice Program (FCP)
Family Choice Program is a state-wide program which provides home based support to families of children with high levels of complex ongoing medical care needs.
The support provided is flexible and tailored to the needs of the particular family based on a case management and individualised medical care plan approach.
Children aged between 0 - 17 years of age are eligible to apply, where it is expected that the family will experience difficulty in maintaining the high level of ongoing medical care at home.
An example of a child with complex medical care needs might include a child with a tracheotomy (artificial airway) requiring frequent suction to clear secretions, tube feeding, frequent delivery medication via the feeding tube, and constant monitoring and management of frequent seizures with medication.
The aim of the Family Choice Program is to assist families of children with complex, chronic medical care needs to be cared for at home with their family.
For more information on the Family Choice Program, see RCH @ Home Family Choice Program Access Procedure.
Schoolcare Program (SCP)
The Schoocare Program is for children and adolescents who would not be able to attend school without specific medical interventions and where training for these medical interventions is required.
The Schoolcare Program is governed by the Department of Early Education and Childhood Development (DEECD) and is run by RCH @ Home.
For more information about the Schoolcare Program, see Training and Support Program .
Homecare Program
The Homecare Program enables children and adolescents with ongoing interventional medical care needs to be safely cared for in their own environment. RCH @ Home nursing staff, in consultation with the child/adolescent's parents and doctor, provide child/adolescent-specific training, monitoring and support for a small group of support workers to provide care in the home.
A child-specific care manual will be developed by the assigned RCH @ Home Homecare Nurse. Support workers for the child/adolescents will then be selected by the case manager and agency they are sourced through. A training program will be devised and training of the support workers will commence.
Ongoing support is an important component of the Homecare Program. The Homecare Nurse is responsible for regular assessments of the support worker as well as monitoring and implementing any medical changes to the child/adolescent's care.
For more information about the Homecare Program, see Training and Support Program.
Palliative Care
"Palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions is an active and total approach to care, embracing physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements. It focuses on enhancement of quality of life for the child and support for the family and includes the management of distressing symptoms, provision of respite, and care through death and bereavement."
- Doyle D, Hanks GWC, MacDonald N (Editors). Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press.UK.1999.
Palliative care is co-ordinated by the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP), for more information on this program, see Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program.
