The importance of care planning

According to the National Institute of Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline, all people with epilepsy should have a regular, updated and comprehensive care plan. A care plan is much more than a document detailing a person’s epilepsy, it’s also a roadmap to where the person wants to be and a shared strategy for how best to care and manage for the person. A care plan should be reviewed and updated on a yearly basis at the very least and kept as accurate and relevant as possible to ensure optimum level of care.

At National Epilepsy Training, we are avid advocates for care planning and provide care planning training services, as well as a care plan writing service.

There are many reasons to keep a care plan up-to-date, including:

Quality of care

There are many factors that might impact upon a person with epilepsy, both internal and external. For example, seizure triggers are an important aspect to document as well as the individual’s personal needs and requirements. Ensuring these details are all outlined within a care plan means it’s much more likely they will receive the appropriate level of care.  

Communication and teamwork

The reason that it’s so important to have as many details documented as possible is so that every member of a care team has a singular reference point to work from. Often with epilepsy there will be a number of healthcare professionals, social workers, friends and family members who can be considered part of a person’s care team. A comprehensive and up-to-date care plan ensures that everyone is working together, and more importantly, the person is receiving consistent care and treatment.

Goals and objectives

A very important aspect of a care plan is to set goals, aspirations and objectives for the person with epilepsy. These may be things that they want to work towards to improve their quality of life, as well as a strategy for how the care team will help them to achieve that. These could include education, work, driving, leisure activities or family life, amongst many others. It’s important for the person’s welfare and sense of wellbeing to always be working towards improvements, a care plan ensures that there is a unified and agreed strategy to gain the optimum results.

Monitoring changes

For many, epilepsy is lifelong, which means it can be easy to lose sight of where a person was at years earlier. Over time a care plan will become a detailed history, which can be useful for a number of purposes, such as seeing how the epilepsy has changed over time. This may give some indication on the future prognosis.

National Epilepsy Training can help

We’re experts in care planning and can provide training for anyone who is involved in a care team, we can also provide detailed care plan writing services and form part of a care team. For more information, please call us on 01706 373075 or email admin@nationalepilepsytraining.co.uk.