CARES Program Helps Patients With Chronic Illness

DANBURY — To meet the growing needs of people with chronic illness, Danbury Hospital, in collaboration with Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, recently developed a new program, The Collaborative Approach to Relieve and Ease Symptoms (CARES).

The many ways that patients can benefit from and access the CARES program was the topic of a recent Medical Town Meeting, “Coping with Chronic Illness.”

As patients are living longer, chronic illness is more prevalent today, according to Jo-Ann Marato-Soltis, MD, hospitalist, Danbury Hospital Department of Medicine.

The CARES program is more than palliative care, according to Dr Marato-Soltis.  “It involves the active total care of patients with progressive and advanced disease not responsive to curative therapy.”  It focuses on improving a patient’s quality of life.

While chronic illness can cause much distress for patients, symptoms, she said, can usually be well managed. In addition to pain, chronic illness can cause anxiety, fears and depression.

“We address a lot of issues and we hope that improvement of symptoms will improve quality of life.”

Pain management is also a big part of the CARES program, and experts educate patients, families and caregivers to identify sources of pain, assess pain, and understand medications and side affects.

Karen Mulvihill, an advanced practice registered nurse and coordinator of the CARES program, added that CARES is offered to patients along with other appropriate treatment.  The CARES team, she said, also works with patients and families to connect them to other community resources.

Among the resources that Danbury Hospital also offers is a patient representative coordinator, Ann Leiss.  Ms Leiss works to educate and assist families and patients on advanced directives, which include a living will and appointment of a healthcare agent, if necessary.

Advanced directives give patients the opportunity to indicate their desires for life support in the event they are in the end stage of a terminal illness or are permanently unconscious.

For more information about advanced directives, contact Ann Leiss at Danbury Hospital, at 797-7430.  For more information regarding the CARES program, call Karen Mulvihill at 731-8648.