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This website was last updated: Friday, April 18, 2008 @ 9:56:41 AM |
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Children with behavioral and/or learning problems have special needs that
require additional help and support. Parents, teachers and care providers have
to work through many challenges to help special needs children achieve success.
This program model will enable families of children with disruptive behavior
disorders to access services and care coordination through the primary care
provider.
Kennebec Pediatrics Cares Program (KP Cares) will provide outreach to families
to help them consistently follow through on their treatment plans in school and
home settings, reduce crises, and improve school performance and social
functioning. KP Cares will enhance continuity and quality of care for children
with behavior disorders by:
- Creating a primary care team to provide supportive services to the child's
family and school.
- Adding the family perspective directly to team deliberations.
- Coordinating more effectively with the child's therapeutic behavioral
health support.
- Creating a database containing key information on patients for the
team's ongoing work with the child and family and for evaluation of the program.
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There are approximately 300 patients of Kennebec Pediatrics who have
specific problems with school performance and other behavioral disorders. Before
KP Cares, the practice had an initial contact with the patient, assessed their
medical needs, and made referrals to specialists. The only method of managing
these patients and their medications had been through the Nurse Manager's
prescription notebook. The practice has found that children with certain
behavioral and medical problems are extremely hard to care for once they are in
crisis. KP Cares was developed to help coordinate care and services with the
goal of decreasing crises and improving the child's success at home, school and
with peers. |
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Patient Database |
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The Patient Database was developed specifically for the program and
contains patient-specific information such as medical providers, medication
lists, previous testing, etc. The database facilitates care for the more
than 300 children in the practice who have special needs. The database is
kept confidential, accessible only to KP staff. |
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Care Notebook |
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The care notebook is an organizational tool designed to help families
track their child's medical, behavioral and educational history. To improve
coordination among caregivers, families carry the notebook with them and
record important events that occur during medical or behavioral office
visits on a “care summary sheet.” Care summary sheets also provide a chance
for doctors and therapists to record questions for other care providers.
Communication and confidentiality are assured because the families control
caregiver access to the notebook. The notebooks also contain behavioral and
medical action plans for use by the child's caretakers (including school and
daycare) when an urgent situation arises. |
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Parent Helpers |
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Carol Jewett
and Doris Pietroski
are the Parent Helpers for KP Cares. Both Carol and Doris are parents of
special needs children who are patients at Kennebec Pediatrics. Using
personal experience getting evaluations and services for their own children
from the state, school, and providers, the Parent Helpers will work with
families to help them get the best services available. Carol and Doris will
be able to assist families with their Care Notebook, coordinate school
meetings, access specialty services, and more.
You can contact Carol and Doris by calling the office or send them an e-mail
at carol.jewett@mainegeneral.org
or doris.pietroski@mainegeneral.org. |
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Study |
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The Study will track the changes in how families function over the period
of time they are involved with the KP Cares program. The goal is to measure
improvement in quality of life, as reflected by better school attendance and
performance, as well as a decrease in the frequency of behavioral crises. We
are also measuring the use and functionality of our website, and the
effectiveness of the psychiatry in the office education program. |
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Psychiatry in the Office |
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Jessica Oesterheld, M.D., from the Spurwink School will be holding case
conferences for doctors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers. Case
conferences will give providers an opportunity to improve the way they give
care to patients with special needs, especially those with complex behavior
problems. |
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Website |
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Kennebec Pediatrics developed this website for use with KP Cares in order
to improve parents' access to available resources covering various medical
and mental health issues. |
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Looking for blank forms to put into your Care Notebook? You can download and print
all the forms in the Care Notebook from our Forms Page!
You can download a colorful brochure about the KP Cares Program by
clicking on the link below.
 KP Cares Program Brochure
Please Note: This brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view
it. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and most newer computers have it installed. If
you do not have the Reader, you can download it to your computer by going to
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/.
Click on ‘Downloads,’ choose ‘Free Acrobat Reader,’ and follow the instructions. |
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