	Group Living Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-GLS 8: Health and Dental Services

Residents receive health and dental services and guidance to promote good health.

PA-GLS 8.01

Each resident receives a health assessment conducted by a qualified medical practitioner that includes:

an initial screening within 24 hours of admission to identify the need for immediate medical care and assess for communicable disease;
a medical examination within one year prior to or three days after admission and annually thereafter; and
a dental examination within six months prior to or one month after admission with appropriate follow-up there after.

Update: Added Research Note - 12/01/10

Added Research Note

Interpretation: When records from the most recent medical and dental examinations are unavailable or examinations are incomplete, the agency must ensure that examinations are completed.

Research Note: Best practice indicates that the most common interval for dental exams is every six months, though some individuals may require more frequent exams based on clinical, historical or radiographic findings. Individuals with dental issues or at high risk of dental problems benefit from exams at frequencies greater than every six months.

PA-GLS 8.02

Health services include direct provision or referral for needed services, and health records include a written summary of the resident’s and his/her family’s known medical history, including immunizations, operations, and illnesses.

Interpretation: Copies of the medical history are provided to the resident or his/her legal guardian and retained in the case record.

PA-GLS 8.03

Direct service workers promote good health habits and healthy living.

PA-GLS 8.04

A physician or other qualified medical practitioner assumes 24-hour on-call medical responsibility.

Interpretation: The standard requires professional medical oversight to ensure responses to medical emergencies and identification and prompt treatment of resident’s health needs. Use of an emergency room is acceptable for overnight hours when protocols are established.

NA All service recipients have private physicians.

PA-GLS 8.05

Residents receive age and developmentally appropriate support and education regarding:

sexual development;
pregnancy prevention and responsible parenting; and
prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

PA-GLS 8.06

An agency that serves special populations provides health services, as appropriate.

Interpretation: “Special populations” may include, but are not limited to, pregnant and parenting individuals or older adults. “Health services” may include, but are not limited to, smoking cessation, fetal alcohol syndrome screening, prenatal care, well-baby care, accessing child and infant health insurance programs, use of prosthetic devices, and onset of and screening for breast cancer, colon cancer, and other relevant diseases.

NA The agency does not serve any special populations such as pregnant and parenting individuals or older adults.

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	PURPOSE: Individuals who receive Group Living Services regain, maintain, and improve life skills and functioning in a safe, stable, community-based living arrangement.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	QUALIFIED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER See QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	LEGAL GUARDIAN A person who has legal responsibility for the care and management of a person incapable of administering his/her own affairs. In the case of a minor child, the guardian is charged with the legal responsibility for the care and management of the child and of the minor child's estate.


	CASE RECORD A written compilation that describes the client and the services delivered. Records can be in hard copy and/or electronic format. The case record can be used as a source of information for quality improvement or other evaluation activities, for research purposes, or to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies.


	PROTOCOLS Instruments and procedures used to accomplish a particular goal, activity, or purpose.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	INFANT A child aged one year and under.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.