In all Care Venues Watch What and How You Promise

All of us want to do our best.  Care providers are no exception.   This includes those who operate adult day, assisted living and home care service delivery bureaus.  Many have taken person-centeredness to a whole new level by controlling the number of persons that can be served and adding special protocols to ensure added attention to individual needs.

Most unfortunately underneath these wonderful approaches comes the occasional provider who is doing everything right except how they describe their work.  It may be true that your approach to long-term care from nutritional protocol to exercise programs to overall optimism is second to none.  However, how you characterize it in conversation could amount to either the illegal practice of medicine, the making of impossible promises or both.

While it could be true that the way you handled a particular situation resulted in improved health or in some cases even a longer life, these circumstances must not be characterized by you – especially the non-medical professional – as medical services.  It might be a good idea to start learning new phrases such as:

1. I would like to think that our holistic approach to his care in conjunction with his physician’s work and family involvement contributed to better days
2. I would like to think that the extra effort we put into serving fresh, nutritious meals helped her to feel better everyday

Stop telling people you are a wellness creator in medical terms or you could be creating major problems for yourself!

A little discernment in this area may not only minimize your potential legal jeopardy but remove a blemish on how others perceive your integrity as well.

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