Liberty Hospice volunteers are piloting a new Tuck-In Program to improve continuity of patient care outside of normal operating hours. Deploying weekend or overnight staff for visits unassociated with acute symptom management can misdirect resources, especially when covering a broad service area. The Tuck-In Program is an initiative that aims to reduce off-shift requests by anticipating the needs of our patients when it comes to delivering supplies, medications and planning visits.
The Tuck-In Program uses volunteers with a scripted questionnaire to call patients each Thursday and before anticipated weather events to ‘tuck them in’ for the weekend. The results of these calls are immediately forwarded to the volunteer program manager who will prioritize the urgent or non-urgent needs so an appropriate team member can act on meeting the specific needs of patients and families before the weekend, saving costly and time consuming on-call visits and providing potential crises intervention and prevention.
Volunteers in Sanford and Siler City recently completed their first month of piloting the Tuck-In Program. Each Thursday, they called all of their home hospice patients and asked a series of pre-determined, specific questions to ensure our patients and caregivers are as prepared as possible for the upcoming weekend.
This Tuck-In Program provides an additional evaluation point, a review of service satisfaction and early identification of patient needs. It also reduces the burden of staff travel and non-emergent weekend visits.
“The patients and caregivers are loving the extra level of care, comfort and support the Tuck-In Program calls are providing,” said Regional Hospice Program Manager Charlotte Walton. “During our first month, we logged 124 calls and added 22 hours of additional volunteer hours.”
After a successful first month, Liberty Hospice offices throughout our service area in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia will roll out the Tuck-In Program in upcoming months. Volunteers are needed for this virtual program. If you are interested in volunteering a couple hours each week to help hospice patients and their families, visit our website or call your local Liberty Hospice office.