HLTAHCS010 — Provide support to clients with chronic disease

Elements & performance criteria

Performance evidence

• provide support to a total of five Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander clients with chronic disease to collectively include: females, males, people across the lifespan, people with different types of chronic disease
• for each of the five clients, and according to their individual needs: source credible consumer based education resources from relevant chronic disease support services, and clearly explain these to the client
• provide clear information and explanations about relevant types of clinical chronic disease treatments
• provide information on these types of client self-care: self-monitoring and recording results, nutrition, healthy eating and exercise, smoking cessation for at least one of the five clients, alcohol cessation or reduction for at least one of the five clients
• source information about relevant chronic disease support services, explain their key features and advise the client how to access services
• plan and organise continuity of chronic disease care in consultation with the client and multidisciplinary team
• use organisational registers and recall strategies to book two appointments for chronic disease health care checks
• document, in client records, accurate details of each client contact including details of services, information and referrals provided

Knowledge evidence

• organisational procedures for client record keeping
• key elements of the psychosocial impact of chronic disease and the importance to health outcomes of managing this aspect of health: emotional, psychological, physical, practical
• techniques used to communicate with clients and families dealing with the emotional impact of chronic disease diagnosis and treatment
• chronic diseases of high incidence in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander populations: cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease including asthma and obstructive lung disease, chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure, chronic liver disease including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis, musculoskeletal conditions including arthritis, eye, ear and oral disease
• for each of the chronic diseases of high incidence in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander populations listed above: plain language definitions and explanations, overview of the common forms of clinical treatment including their aim, basic pathophysiology sufficient to describe the impact and functional changes on relevant body organs and systems, the concept of comorbidity and an overview of the main complications that can result in the co-occurrence of other diseases or conditions
• for chronic kidney disease: the importance of early stage management in deferring or preventing end-stage kidney disease (renal failure), the importance of monitoring through regular blood and urine tests, factors which may accelerate and factors which may worsen renal failure including high blood pressure, anti-inflammatory drugs, poor diabetes control, dehydration and high protein diet, strategies to delay progression including control of blood sugar and blood pressure, options for treatment of end-stage kidney disease (renal failure) including haemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, transplant and palliative care
• lifestyle risk factors that can contribute to, exacerbate or progress all types of chronic disease: smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy nutrition and body weight, consumption of alcohol at unsafe levels, use of illicit drugs, unsafe sexual practices
• the importance of clients modifying their lifestyle in the management of their chronic disease
• key elements of Australian national dietary and physical activity guidelines
• the particular importance, for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander populations, of reducing the intake of foods high in saturated fat and salt, and sugar-sweetened soft drinks
• for home testing equipment, relevant to blood pressure, urinalysis, blood glucose and ketones: operational features, ways to avoid inaccurate readings, care and maintenance, how to read and record levels
• the role of traditional and bush healers relevant to the local community
• the elements of client self-management of chronic disease, and the importance of the client’s role in managing the disease: knowing about the particular type of disease, sharing in decision-making for care plans, treatments and ongoing health care, following an agreed care plan, monitoring and managing signs and symptoms as well as side effects of treatments, managing the impact on physical, emotional and social life, adopting a healthy lifestyle, accessing and using chronic disease support services
• factors that may impact on client choice of treatment and health care: adherence to traditional and spiritual belief systems, perceptions of risk and benefits, potential for physical disability or impaired function and their impacts on ability to work, family and personal relationships, ability to manage treatments and ongoing self-care
• the importance of: current and credible consumer based education resources about the chronic disease and its treatment in the client decision-making process, patient treatment choices on chronic disease outcomes, respecting client values and choice of treatment, and how to provide balanced and evidence based information to assist with decisions, determining treatments and planning for supportive care services before treatment starts
• barriers and difficulties faced by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people and their families who need to travel or relocate to distant centres to access treatments
• chronic disease support services available in the community, state or territory: for chronic disease in general and for particular types of diseases, specialist services available to people of different genders and ages, and to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, services to support clients who are caring for family members with life-limiting illness or who are at the end stages of life, how to access information about the types of services and consumer based education resources they provide, how clients can access services and the role of health practitioners in facilitating access
• the importance of continuity of care for clients with chronic disease, and: how multidisciplinary team members work together to coordinate chronic disease treatments and care, and how to facilitate referrals, the need for regular attendance, check-ups, and reassessment for changes in disease presentation and detection of other related diseases, how to use client information systems and recall functions to follow-up clients for care and regular check-ups
• the principles and philosophy of palliative care and the role of different members of the multidisciplinary care team in discussing palliative care with clients
• for palliation: methods to manage advanced symptoms and pain for people with terminal disease, methods to manage the psychosocial aspects of symptoms and pain
• for advanced care directives: their purpose, and difference between the purpose of wills, powers of attorney and enduring guardianships, inclusions including the person responsible for making medical decisions when client is unable, treatments the client would like or would refuse, and personal values and beliefs about things such as treatments and dying, how they are used by medical practitioners, nurses and other members of a multidisciplinary care team to provide end of life care, overview of legal requirements for the local state or territory, and considerations for review and renewal.

Foundation skills

• Reading skills: interpret detailed and sometimes unfamiliar client records, involving medical terminology and abbreviations; interpret detailed and sometimes unfamiliar plain language consumer based education resources.
• Writing skills: use fundamental sentence structure, health terminology and abbreviations to complete forms and reports that require factual and subjective information.
• Oral communication skills: use language and terms sensitive to clients’ values and emotional state; incorporate motivational interviewing techniques into client interactions and brief interventions; ask open and closed probe questions and actively listen to determine client needs and understanding of information provided.
• Learning skills: use information provided in credible evidence-based consumer resources to update and extend knowledge of chronic disease, treatments and available support services.
• Initiative and enterprise skills: source information that meets the specific needs of clients and families.

Unit content sourced from training.gov.au — © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Auditori is not affiliated with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Questions about assessing HLTAHCS010