Standard of care

“ It is, to begin with, an inherent drawback of any general Destitution Authority for the work of Curative Treatment that it is necessarily a "mixed" Authority, having to deal, not with [285] patients suffering from any one disease, but with persons of the most diverse needs, and requiring treatment of very different nature. To entrust to one and the same Authority the care of the infants and the aged, the children and the able-bodied adults, the sick and the healthy, maids and widows ”

“ That's not right, and health care reform is about doing what's right, about having compassion and bestowing dignity on each of us as God's children. These are enduring values, the source of the moral authority that has made our Nation great. ”

“ And when families have nowhere to turn when their loved ones are harmed by health care plans' bad decisions, when there's a denial of specialist care or emergency care when they're plainly needed and recommended by physicians, when those kinds of things happen, we know we have to take action.
Whether in managed care or traditional care, every single American deserves quality care. ”

“ The care and skill with which the sick are treated in hospitals, infirmaries, and even private houses, are far greater than they were; the improvement and extension of nursing are more than can be described; the care which the rich bestow on the poor, whom they visit in their own homes, is every day saving health and life; and, even more effectual than any of these, is the work done by the medical officers of health, and all the sanitary authorities now active and influential in every part of the kingdom. ”

“ The public authorities shall carry out a policy of preventive care, treatment, rehabilitation and integration of the physically, sensorially and mentally handicapped by giving them the specialized care they require, and affording them special protection for the enjoyment of the rights granted by this Part to all citizens. ”

“ The Tendency of Evolution.—The importance of such institutions as those we have been discussing will become ever greater. Indeed, the great majority of sick persons will ultimately receive institutional care. The functions we have been considering, at present administered by the community at large and by the local authority, will eventually be taken over by the State. ”

“ Today, a poor child who gets sick has access to a family doctor. Under this bill, nearly 4 million poor children could be denied quality medical care. If they got sick, they'd have to pray for charity care at a crowded hospital emergency room. ”

“ Our people must have a sense of well-being about their health and that of their children and families. My health care reform plan will guarantee them access to the finest health care system in the world and make that care affordable. ”

“ Article 36
⁠Medical and healthcare institutions of all types and at all levels shall divide responsibilities and cooperate with each other to provide citizens with such all-round and full-life-cycle medical and healthcare services as disease prevention, healthcare, treatment, nursing, rehabilitation, and palliative care. ”

“ Ought it not, therefore, to be the care of every nurse and every parent, not only to protect their nurslings from injury, but to be well assured that their own officious services be not the greatest evils the helpless creatures can suffer? ”

“ Preventing low birth weights and infant mortality from other causes; reducing disability levels; and increasing the feasibility of home care in cases of severe chronic illness are objectives of high priority. Health professionals and staff members of State and local social service agencies can improve the effectiveness of health care delivery as they cooperate fully in these approaches. ”

“ Our steadfast commitment to the health and welfare of our children is especially important for those who have special health care needs. Children who suffer from chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, and emotional conditions require specialized services in their communities. I encourage parents and caretakers to recognize these health problems, to obtain specialized care as necessary, and to monitor their children's conditions closely in order to give them every advantage toward leading a successful, fulfilling life. ”

“ Now, it becomes more and more apparent that it is a useless extravagance to adopt the policy of curative and restorative treatment, unless we are prepared to "search out" the cases [288] that need dealing with,—the infants and children who are just beginning to be neglected by their parents and guardians, the persons of all ages who are just beginning to suffer from disease, the feeble-minded lacking ameliorating care, the man just smitten with unemployment—at the stage in their complaint at which the application of our treatment has, at any rate, some chance of yielding effective results. ”

“ And for those of use who make the rules, and we can provide health care to ourselves and our families, then we should be able to provide the same kind of health care to the rest of the citizens who hired us to represent them. ”

“ It is not until we realize that we have not a cure already, that we do hustle around to get it. It is not until we realize that we are now very helpless in medicine that we shall labor in a way to become less so. At present the best that we can do for most patients is to explain what the trouble is, let them know what is going to happen, to preach some hygiene, and above all to make them realize that we care and suffer with them. That is the essence of medical work and of the social assistant's work in the dispensary and in the home. ”

“ It can preserve the dignity and independence of individuals and prevent or postpone institutionalization for millions of patients each year. In a significant number of cases, home care can even reduce the cost of medical treatment. ”

“ A variety of groups make such care available. Thousands of home health agencies-large and small, urban and rural, public and private, hospital-based and independent-provide nursing services; physical, speech, and occupational therapy; social services ”

“ All indications point to much greater accomplishments in the future. We are emerging from an era of custodial care and entering one of prevention, scientific investigation, and highly specialized treatment along entirely different lines. ”

“ The mistake of all that medical talk lies in the very fact that it connects the idea of health with the idea of care. What has health to do with care? Health has to do with carelessness. In special and abnormal cases it is necessary to have care. ”

“ I may add, too, that in this country of care-worn and pale faces, we can as little conceive the effect of an assembly rosy with universal health, habitually unacquainted with care, and abandoned with the apparent child-like simplicity of high breeding, to the inspiring gayety of the hour. The greater contrast, however, is between a nation where health is the first care, and one in which health is never thought of till lost; and light and shade are not more contrasted than the mere general effect of countenance in one and in the other. ”

“ Like the nurse she may recommend that a child be placed under the care of a psychologist, a physician, a more expert teacher, a kindergartner, or that a social agency be called upon to assist in improving the sanitary, health, or financial features of the home environment. ”

“ Through the resources of a health care system second to none, this Nation strives to protect all of our children from preventable diseases, to encourage behavior that fosters good health, and to treat their episodic illnesses. ”

“ Let us also give much-deserved thanks and recognition to the dedicated men and women of our home health care system who help us care for our loved ones, preserve their independence, and keep our families intact. ”

“ Today, as an increasing number of people are being released from acute care settings and returning to their communities in need of complex home health assistance, Visiting Nurse Associations have been quick to respond. ”

“ The State and society shall provide benefits and preferential treatment to disabled servicepersons and provide special safeguards for their daily necessities and medical care in accordance with the law. ”

“ The public care little for medical titles, or for those artificial distinctions which, for the more convenient subdivision of labour, we have established amongst ourselves; they look for men who will prove useful to them in time of need—men in whom they can place confidence, whom they may admit without fear into the bosom of their families, whose feelings and behaviour are those of gentlemen, who are skilled to relieve their bodily sufferings, and to whom they may open the secrets of their hearts and turn for sympathy and advice in seasons of affliction. ”

“ This difference in the type of care contemplated seems most naturally to account for the discrepancy found with many writers, between their estimates for the school population and for the general population.
51 C. Desirable Versus Immediately Advisable Social Care A second source of confusion arises when one investigator is thinking of the number of feeble-minded, the care of whom it is desirable that society should assume, and another is thinking of the feeble-minded, the care of whom it is advisable for society to assume at once. ”

“ In other words, she can meet the thousand and one personal services which in themselves might be disagreeable and prove pure drudgery, not merely with the stern will to do them because they are a necessary part of obtaining a desired end, but also for the sake of adding to the comfort and well-being of each patient in her care. ”

“ Each day, thousands of hardworking men and women bring vital home health care services to Americans who are incapacitated by illness, age, or disability. Working in association with more that 12,000 home care agencies across the country, these dedicated professionals and volunteers form a core of caring support in our Nation's vast health care system. ”

“ Proposed Reforms.—It is the duty of the poor-law boards to devote great attention to the health, not merely of those children for whose care they are directly responsible, but also for poor children in general. ”

“ The home situation clearly has to be considered as well as the physical ailment in almost every case requiring medical care. Thus the task is a coöperative one between the social worker and the medical scientist. ”

“ But above and beyond this element has been the quiet and persistent growth of the work among board-of-health officers, medical societies, club women, church organizations, physicians, nurses—in fact, among all bodies of men and women especially interested in child welfare. ”

“ In the main, however, the care of the health of the people is a governmental function, whether it has to do with the prevention of sickness or the satisfactory medical treatment and nursing of the sick.
There is no early prospect of voluntary workers becoming unnecessary; for average human nature, as represented on governmental bodies, is shortsighted and needs much education, morally and intellectually, before it will undertake the whole sphere of work called for in the interest of the welfare of the mother and her child. ”

“ Whereas health care policies should emphasize public health and encourage the use of quality services and evidence-based treatment that is appropriate and safe and that discourages unnecessary treatment ”

“ Special care should be taken to quiet fears in these directions; they should be assured that they are groundless, told they will be allowed to communicate with their friends, that they will be visited by their family, and that all their interests will be cared for. ”

“ Historically, the care provided by Visiting Nurse Associations has enabled many individuals who are chronically ill or disabled to remain in their homes. Such care provides a setting that is familiar to them and is characterized by the physical and social support of family, friends, and loved ones. ”

“ What between boards of health and sanitary boards, combined with great medical skill, the most sickly children were by nursing brought to the years of maturity and allowed to marry. Many thoughtful people used to wonder what this would all come to, if decrepit and diseased life was to be taken care of and perpetuated in this way. ”

“ For example, during the 19th and early 20th centuries the burdens of serving as research subjects fell largely upon poor ward patients, while the benefits of improved medical care flowed primarily to private patients. ”

“ Our home health care system includes untold numbers of churches, volunteer groups, private agencies, and families, as well as government programs. All Americans can be proud of this effort for those in need, and of this national commitment to our American values of strong family life and neighbor helping neighbor. ”

“ ENHANCE COMMUNICATION ON PROMOTING QUALITY OF, AND PREVENTING ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION IN, LONG-TERM CARE- The Advisory Board shall develop collaborative and innovative approaches to improve the quality of, including preventing abuse, neglect, and exploitation in, long-term care. ”

“ IN GENERAL- The Director shall develop a program to provide training for eligible entities on effective strategies for the prevention and control of chronic disease and the link between physical, emotional, and social well-being. ”

“ The administrators and employees of home health care agencies work closely with government agencies and with concerned private organizations, including hospitals, to give patients a welcome alternative to institutionalized care. Home care not only emphasizes the dignity, comfort, and independence of patients but also affirms the importance of family love and support to their well-being. ”

“ Without the possibility of affording these patients the requisite aid during the course of their illness, the care of the sick, according to the statement of our physicians, would in most cases be useless. ”

“ The combination of professional services with such situations can add to the effectiveness of home health care. National Home Care Week, 1988, reminds us of the good that results when families and home care providers put into practice the respect we all owe to everyone in need of such care. ”