Take Control of Your Discharge Planning

by Cindy Shadeck, Community and Institutional Rights Team

Someday, for whatever reason, you or someone you care about may need to be hospitalized. While this is often necessary to regain stability, it can be a stressful time. Returning home can present its own stressors. One way to help alleviate this stress is to ensure that good discharge planning is in place. 

Discharge planning should begin as soon as you are admitted to a facility. If you are being hospitalized for psychiatric reasons, your Community Mental Health (CMH) agency should be involved. Ideally, the CMH worker should attend planning meetings at the facility and should be communicating with you and others to find out what you want and need upon leaving the facility.

Discharge planning should be person centered. That means it should be driven by what you want, not what the hospital or CMH worker wants. It should be based on your strengths, choices, and preferences. And, while it might not be possible to grant all your wishes, your choices should always be considered and respected.

You have the right to invite relatives, friends, or whomever you wish to your planning and discharge meetings. You also have the right to choose the time and place of your meeting and to decide who will facilitate it. Your CMH can provide a list of independent facilitators who can help with your meeting. All of these things should be discussed at a preplanning meeting, which takes place separately and prior to your discharge planning meeting. 

The purpose of planning is to ensure that all of your health and safety needs will be met in the community. The discharge plan should include such things as:

ˇ        where and with whom you will live;

ˇ        what kind of staffing support (if any) you will receive;

ˇ        who your social worker/case manager will be and what kind of supports/services they will provide;

ˇ        who your  psychiatrist will be, how often the two of you will meet, and what services will be provided;

ˇ        who your primary care physician will be;

ˇ        what kind of auxiliary services (speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy services), if any, you need;

ˇ        any durable medical equipment needs and environmental modifications that you may need prior to your discharge;

ˇ        upcoming/outstanding appointments.

The discharge planning meeting is a time to exchange information. This includes ensuring that you have hard copies of the following information:

• your state identification card;
• Medicaid card;
• Medicare card;
• other insurance cards;
• social security card;
• a birth certificate.

This is also the time to address issues such as transportation and applying for benefits. As part of your planning, you should be given the opportunity to create a crisis plan so that everyone knows what to do in the event that you need additional assistance.        

Person-centered planning is a right under the Michigan Mental Health Code. It is important for future success that you be involved in your care planning. This is especially important when returning home after a hospitalization.

If you would like more information on discharge planning or person-centered planning, visit the Michigan Department of Community Health at www.michigan.gov/mdch or call Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service at 800.288.5923.