Guide to College Majors in Life Care Planning

What is Life Care Planning?

We cannot predict catastrophic accidents that result in physical trauma or serious injury. Usually, a terminal illness is not a condition that can be foreseen either. Such events are terrible and unfortunate, but they do occur. The shock and suddenness of such a tragedy often leaves a victim and a victim's loved ones emotionally drained and unequipped to begin planning for the aftermath of such an occurrence.

Even after the initial shock gives way to acceptance and recuperation, many legal and insurance concerns may surface. The health care industry has adapted to this need and now offers services to assist such victims. It is important that a patient receives the best in planning for the financial, health, and lifestyle adjustments of treatment and recovery. Life care planners use their skills to reduce the stress of these difficult transitions.

A life care plan projects the future costs of medical goods and services by identifying the needs and requirements of a catastrophically injured or ill patient. A life care planner relies on recommendations and information provided by a patient's physician concerning the medical equipment, services, and treatment necessary for a patient to work towards good health and independence. A life care planner also takes the effects of aging and impairment into consideration as well as the patient's personal support system.

Patients can use life care plans to prevent further complications and disability. Whenever possible, a life care planner interviews a patient. They supplement the conversation with other research regarding the patient's past medical, social, educational, and family history. The life care planner presents this information in the form of a written document that educates others to meet a patient's future needs. Depending on the circumstances, a career assessment may determine the loss of earning capacity and vocational rehabilitation needs.

Life care planners play an important role in settling lawsuits between patients and negligent employers, drivers, or hospitals. Malpractice attorneys and trial lawyers hire life care planners to accurately project the financial costs of adequate rehabilitation following an accident. Lawyers use those projections to reach settlements with insurance providers. As a result, the courts can guarantee that an accident victim will receive proper medical attention throughout their recovery period. In cases of permanent disability, life care planners can help assure a high quality of life for their patients for the duration of their lives.

All individuals with catastrophic disabilities and terminal illness have worth and dignity.
Life care plans are designed to facilitate and maximize functional capacity and independence for patients with catastrophic disabilities.
The systematic process of life care planning is conducted in an objective and fair manner within the context of family, community, and employment systems.
Comprehensive and integrated services are the focus of life care planning and based on individual involvement, personal assets, and a sense of equal justice from all involved parties.

Online degree programs open up this area of study to more professionals eager to assist patients in handling the legal aspects of their health care. By completing courses online, participating in virtual training, and interacting with professors and fellow students, life care planning students can take advantage of the opportunity to receive a quality education without having to physically relocate to a college campus. Online life care planning degree programs enable students to pursue a health care career with the information, training, and skills necessary to provide guidance to injured and terminally ill patients.

Preparing for a Life Care Planning Degree

As the baby boom generation continues to age and the overall demands in health care increase, job opportunities for life care planners will expand. Most current life care planners began their professional careers as registered nurses. Pursuing education and obtaining a degree are necessary building blocks for a career in life care planning. Health care professionals specialized in this field draw heavily on medical and legal knowledge. This knowledge is best developed in a specialized life care planning degree training program.

It is also important to know that top-notch degree programs provide health care professionals with the ability to combine nursing, patient relations, health insurance, and litigation courses with quality practical training. Because life care planners touch on a variety of specialty areas during the course of their work, they must understand a wider range of skills than most health care providers. Before a health care professional makes the decision to enroll in a life care planning degree program, he or she should carefully consider a few things to make sure he is making the best decision.
Often, professionals are drawn to life care planning because they have an interest in bridging the gap between the health care and legal communities to provide better care for a patient. Potential life care planners should also be willing to develop knowledge of the legal system and the insurance industry. Thus, a student should carefully weigh his or her personal interests and strengths with the requirements of a successful life care planning career.

Life care planners enjoy helping others. They can provide support and a sense of security to terminally ill and catastrophically injured patients, and they possess a strong commitment to advancing and improving the health and physical capabilities of others. Because they frequently interact with seriously ill or injured patients, life care planning degree candidates should have a strong emotional support system in place before embarking on this new stage of their career.

A health care professional interested in life care planning can prepare for this training by gaining as much field experience as necessary. Working in health care and serving the needs of patients, a committed professional will undoubtedly be introduced to many concepts utilized in life care planning.

Additionally, the more education and training a professional receives in his related health care field, the more opportunities he or she will have to develop a level of expertise in life care planning. Essentially, students will thrive in health care degree programs when they have strong foundational skills in their previous health care profession.
Potential life care planners can learn more about the day-to-day duties of the job by shadowing a professional. Potential students can take this opportunity to ask the professional questions about the field. He or she may be able to offer advice, guidance, and ideas about job opportunities in the field.

Not only will such efforts help a potential student decide which direction to take his or her studies, this exercise could generate the most valuable information a potential student obtains as he or she considers a career path. Actively engaging in this sort of career probing and shadowing is sure to provide a more thorough picture of future possibilities in life care planning.

Once a health care professional makes the decision to forge a new career in life care planning, the final step of preparation includes comparing and contrasting life care planning degree and training opportunities to find the best fit. By using this research as a catalyst, he or she will also be able to generate a list of questions to ask admissions counselors that will assist in the final program selection. The more information a student can gather about life care planning degree programs and training opportunities, the better informed his or her decision will be.

What can you do with a College Degree in Life Care Planning?

Career options for aspiring life care planners

A life care planner must understand the medical aspects of the complexity of a patient's disability and possible future complications. Additionally, a life care planner must have knowledge of health insurance, disability insurance, and the legal ramifications of catastrophic and terminal events.

The advancement of computer technology has become more easily accessible to more students, and many health care and life care planning degree programs are taking advantage of the opportunity offer education online. Students engage in online tutorials, web seminars, and interactive training. Life care planning students who participate in distance learning degree programs have the flexibility to coordinate and map out their own schedules to work around existing job and family commitments.

Life Care Planning Certificate Programs
An online life care planning certificate program provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a career in this unique niche of the health care industry. Online, students are taught how to develop life care plans and develop expert knowledge of the medical, psychological, and economic aspects of disabilities and terminal health care conditions.

The curriculum for a life care planning degree program provides the essential skills and areas of expertise necessary to research, develop, coordinate, interpret, and manage life care plans for patients. According to the Commission on Health Care Certification, courses covered in training generally include:

Orientation of Life Care Planning and Case Management
Assessment of Rehabilitation Potential
Medical and Rehabilitation Aspects of Disability
Development of Life Care Plans
Consultation in Life Care Planning
Professional and Operational Issues

More Career Options

There are multiple educational paths that can lead to a career in life career planning, and there are also several different types of related health care careers. Many professional life planners start their careers in other roles, and then add life planning as a specialty to better serve their patients.

Registered Nurse. A registered nurse is a health care professional who helps patients with recovery, disease prevention, and coping with illness and disease. Registered nurses also function as advocates for patients and the families of patients. A nurse is qualified to monitor and observe a patient's treatment, administer treatment, assess symptoms, document observations, develop and manage care plans, and guide a patient's family in necessary steps for a patient's treatment and recovery.

As many Americans rely more heavily on health care as they grow older, registered nurses with life care planning degrees can earn lucrative salaries in a number of work environments. Visiting nurses travel to patients' homes, helping patients maintain their quality of life without admittance to a hospital or a nursing home. A registered nurse must earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and pass a national licensing examination.
Rehabilitation Nurse Case Manager. The goal of rehabilitation nurse case manager is to provide high quality and cost-effective health care services to patients. A rehabilitation nurse case manager achieves this goal by organizing health care services to promote the best possible outcomes for a patient. A nurse case manager also analyzes a patient's medical records and assists in formulating a plan for extended treatment and care.

Additionally, a nurse case manager must prepare for potential physical and psychological complications and provide support and encouragement for patients. A rehabilitation nurse case manager must first receive a registered nurse license, and in some cases, additional educational training in rehabilitation is also necessary.
Occupational Therapist. An occupational therapist helps patients improve their abilities to perform basic daily tasks, work functionality, and other recovery skills. The ultimate goal of this field of health care is to enhance a patient's ability to live a productive, independent life. It is also important for an occupational therapist to carefully document the progress of a patient for insurance and legal support.

An occupational therapist with a life care planning degree can help patients make long term plans for returning to work or family life, especially after a long hospital stay. Occupational therapists must obtain at least a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and pass a national certification exam.
Personal and Home Care Aides. The job of a personal or home care aid is to provide assistance and treatment to the disabled, elderly, or ill in the patient's home. Usually, a home care aid is hired to care for a patient whose needs are too demanding for friends and family members to meet. Professionals in this field offer support and advice on nutrition, hygiene and daily tasks.

In some states, no formal educational training is required to work in this field of health care. Instead, home care aids receive on-the-job training. In other states, formal training is required. Certification is not mandatory, but completing the requirements for certification demonstrates an individual's dedication to this career.
Legal Nurse Consultant. A legal nurse consultant functions as a liaison between the medical and legal communities. Legal nursing consultants are generally registered nurses with several years of experience who assist legal efforts by reviewing and analyzing medical records. The opinions of legal nurse consultants serve as important testimony in various types of health care related legal cases.

A life care planning degree can help a legal nurse consultant understand whether health care providers have made prudent choices when a patient's recovery plan is in dispute. A registered nurse must have at least three years of experience before beginning a legal consulting training program. Legal nurse consultants currently do not have to be certified, but obtaining voluntary certification is recommended.
Physical Therapist. The job of a physical therapist involves helping individuals rehabilitate from injuries or diseases of the muscles, joints, nerves, and bones. Professionals in this field develop exercises, and activities based on a patient's individual needs. Physical therapists with degrees in life care planning can help their patients develop long term plans for treatment and recovery.

To qualify for this line of work, most physical therapy schools require an additional two to three years of education after an undergraduate degree. A physical therapist must also pass a national examination to become a licensed physical therapist. Physical therapists generally find jobs in hospitals and clinics.
Exercise Physiologist. An exercise physiologist studies acute and chronic physiological responses and adaptations that result from differing levels of physical activity. Generally, exercise physiologists work in commercial, clinical, and workplace settings for the purposes of increasing the health, fitness, and quality of life of the general population.

Life care planning degrees can benefit exercise physiologists who want to play a more active role in their patient's lives. They can accurately coordinate workout routines with other elements of a patient's life care plan, without providing instructions that conflict with instructions from other doctors or therapists. To work as an exercise physiologist, a student must obtain an undergraduate degree, and often a Master's degree is also necessary. Obtaining certification is also important.

Salary Information for Careers in Life Care Planning

According to a survey of professional life care planners, income opportunities for individuals entering this field of health care average between $80 and $150 per billable hour. Life care planning specialists tend to work with patients for three to four billable hours per day. The rest of the time, they work on recordkeeping, marketing, or professional development tasks.

Typically, government agencies, law firms, insurance companies, HMOs, or independent practices employ life care planners. These salaried positions allow larger companies to absorb the economic impact of seasonal work flows. As life care planning becomes more commonplace, some professionals have expanded their careers by working as solo professionals.

Certification and Licensure

Founded in 1994, the Commission on Health Care Certification (CHCC) responds to the growing need for certified clinical examiners in the health care industry. As this need continued to grow, the CHCC expanded its influence in the health and rehabilitation field by researching and developing a certification program in life care planning. Therefore, life care planning training programs have become responsive to the need for life care planning services in catastrophic cases.

The CHCC also developed the Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) credential to keep up with the overwhelming growth of case management in catastrophic disabilities and managed care in the health insurance industry. The CLCP credential is based specifically on the roles of case managers and rehabilitation nurses who provide this service.

Consistency of training among case managers and professional consultants who provide life care planning services is a necessity. The CHCC has developed the criteria listed below that must be met by all certification candidates to take the exam.

A minimum of 120 hours of postgraduate or post-specialty degree training in life care planning or in related areas must be accrued. Within the 120-hour minimum, a candidate must earn 16 hours of training specific to a basic orientation, methodology, and standards of practice in life care planning.

Often, nurses and rehabilitation professionals make the transition into the life care planning field. So, a candidate must secure the education requirements for their health care related profession. Candidates must also be certified and licensed in their home states in order to practice in his health care related profession.

A candidate for certification must satisfy the experience component in one of three ways. First, he can submit one life care plan with his name listed as the document's author or coauthor. Second, he can work for one year under the supervision of a certified life care planner. Third, he can graduate from an accredited life care planning degree program that requires a practicum or internship component, or a degree program which requires him to develop an independent life care plan that is graded and critiqued by a certified life care planner.

The Certified Life Care Planner exam is made up of multiple-choice case scenarios. All exam questions and answers are pulled from the latest professional literature from the medical, insurance, and rehabilitation professions. Additionally, all questions fall under broad categories defined by the CHCC:

Foundations of Life Care Planning
Resource Development
Medical and Treatment Issues
Vocational Issues
Medical and Rehabilitation Testimony

Life Care Planning Associations and Certification Bodies