- What is the CARE_PATH for Kids model and tools?
The CARE_PATH for Kids (CPK) is a three-step whole child approach for families of children and youth with special health care needs to engage, plan, and improve care planning and outcomes in partnership with their child’s care teams. The first step in the three-step CPK process is the Family Foundations of Care (FFC) Planner. The second step is the Family Foundations of Care (FFC) Plan. The third step in the CPK process is partnering to improve care planning and outcomes through ongoing use of the FFC Planner and Plan.
- How is the CARE_PATH for Kids model and tools unique?
Families of children and youth with special health care needs have strengths, priorities, and goals that include all the medical realities of care for these children. The CPK builds on this foundation of strengths and priorities by engaging families as partners in developing and implementing plans of care that fit in the family’s social and environmental context. The CPK model takes into account that the broader context of family life for children extends well beyond the clinic setting, and care plans work best when designed around family life as a whole. The model helps providers better understand how to tailor care to fit the family’s unique setting to promote whole child and family well-being.
- How does the CARE_PATH for Kids model and tools help me as a parent?
Families get the chance to reflect and share their needs, wishes, and priorities as they juggle the many aspects of family life with a child with special health care needs. The CPK recognizes that this family life is not just defined by one provider visit after another. Rather, the CPK presents opportunities to see the interactions between the medical and non-medical pieces of daily life. The CPK also creates a central information location to make sharing easy and efficient across a variety of providers, including doctors, therapists, and others.
- What will I be asked to do?
The three-step CPK process starts with the family. You complete the Family Foundations of Care (FFC) Planner, either alone (at home or at an appointment) or with a member of your child’s care team. The FFC Planner can be completed currently as a paper and pencil PDF, fillable PDF, or online version (using Qualtrics). Responses from the FFC Planner can be transferred to the FFC Plan, either on your own or by a care team member. You and your family then work together with a care team member to finalize the FFC Plan, which gets used during provider visits. It is designed to be the starting point for more comprehensive shared care plans. The FFC Plan can be updated periodically or as needed by you or your care team. The three-step CPK process is an ongoing process of care coordination and relationship building between your family and your child’s care teams.
- How long will it take to complete the Family Foundations of Care (FFC) Planner?
The FFC Planner is step one in the three-step CPK process. It takes about 15-30 minutes to complete. Families can complete it on their own or with help from their child’s care team.
- What kinds of questions are asked in the FFC Planner?
The FFC Planner is an engagement tool for families to reflect on and share their child and family’s strengths, current care and needs, priorities, goals, and aspects of their social life and environment. Some questions families may not have been asked before, but they are useful to help providers and care teams understand the family as a whole as they partner in designing and coordinating care for the child.
- What do I do after completing the FFC Planner?
After you complete the FFC Planner, you can either transfer your responses into the FFC Plan on your own or have a member of your child’s care team do this. The FFC Plan is designed to be co-developed with a member of your child’s care team(s) after you have completed the FFC Planner; however, if you do not complete the FFC Planner you may still complete the FFC Plan. Then, with a member of your child’s care team, you will review the FFC Plan and finalize it together. During this meeting, you will also pick priorities, goals, and action steps for you and your care team to focus on, based on whatever is most pressing to you as a family.
- How will my information be shared with my provider(s)?
The information that you have provided in the FFC Plan will be shared with your provider at your discretion and request. This will be done either through the completed paper and pencil PDF or fillable PDF. The FFC Plan will be shared with your provider either in your medical file or via electronic health records (EHR). Any information that you share with your provider is protected as protected health information (PHI) per their privacy policies.
- When should I use the FFC Planner and Plan? How often will the FFC Planner and Plan be updated?
You can use the FFC Planner and Plan with any providers or care teams that your child may have who are involved in care planning for your child. It is up to the family to decide when and with which care teams they would like to use the CPK. The FFC Planner and Plan can be updated periodically or on an as-needed bases, determined by the family or the care teams. For example, if your child’s care has changed or a new priority has arisen for your family, you may want to update your FFC Plan.
- Are the CPK tools available in other languages?
The CPK tools are currently being developed for the Spanish language. The CAHMI will make the Spanish language tools available on the CPK website at www.carepathforkids.org when they are ready for use.
- Where can I find more information on the CPK model and access the CPK tools?
You can learn more about the CPK model and tools on our website at www.carepathforkids.org. The CPK tools are available for download after completing a short sign-up form. You can access both the paper and pencil and fillable PDF versions of the FFC Planner and Plans on this website.
- What if my child’s provider doesn’t know about the CPK model and tools?
If your child’s provider or care teams do not know about the CPK model and tools and you would like to share more information with them, you can direct them to the CPK website at www.carepathforkids.org. You can direct them to the “Implement the CPK” section of our website, which provides access to information and resources for implementing the CPK model and tools in practices and organizations.