Posts Tagged ‘Speech Pathologists’

With a Health Care Background You Can Find a Rewarding Career in Life Care Planning

February 9th, 2010



Individuals dealing with catastrophic injuries and health problems often need an advocate to help them effectively deal with all the issues surrounding this type of serious situation. Life care planners bridge the gap between the medical and legal communities helping patients and their families cope with these issues and provide and maintain the best quality of life possible for the patient.

Who Can Become A Life Care Planner?

Life Care Planning requires a particular skill set. Qualified rehabilitation professionals and registered nurses interested in facilitating the treatment and care of individuals with catastrophic injuries or chronic health problems can earn their Life Care Planning Certification online and find career options in this vital field. Others who might also be interested in life care planning include occupational therapists, physical therapists, rehabilitation counselors, case managers, social workers, psychologists, medical doctors, chiropractors, nurse practitioners, special education professionals, licensed speech pathologists, and professional counselors.

Help Patients Improve their Quality of Life

Life care planners help patients find ways to best manage their day-to-day lives along with issues such as planning for necessary long-term care and discovering the options for providing the best quality of life possible for the patient.

Project Medical Costs and Provide Legal Advice

Life care planners analyze and project future medical costs as well as the cost of long-term care, and as a result are often called upon to testify regarding the loss of future earnings and rehabilitation needs in lawsuits involving their clients. As a life care planner, you can be a comfort to the patient as someone who knows medical terminology and can offer legal advice.

Work with Doctors and Medical Staff to Provide Optimal Care

One of the vital roles of the life care planner is to meet with the patient’s physician to explore the most effective life care plan based on the individual needs of the patient. Life care planning has different aspects such as planning for long-term care and planning for end-of-life care. All of the duties of an effective life-care planner relate to the knowledge of the medical field; that’s why the certification for life care planning is available to those who already have a medical background. Related fields include case management and legal nurse consulting, physical therapists and others.

Career Opportunities for Life Care Planners

Career options for a well-qualified life care planning consultant are varied for whatever suits your personal goals including these:

Government Agencies
Law Firms
Insurance Xompanies
HMOs
Independent Practice

Online Education Options for Life Care Planning

You can earn your Life Care Planning Certification online. This is a great option if you already work in health care and don’t want to give up your full-time job to enhance your education.

Today’s online programs are designed to help working professionals reach their education and career goals, designed with flexible scheduling to help you maintain your current lifestyle while advancing your education and expanding your career options. Explore your career options and educational advancement opportunities today!

By: Nancy Lambert

Special Education Teachers

October 24th, 2009



Special education can be defined as specially configured instructions and other education-related services to meet the educational, social, emotional, and vocational needs of students with disabilities. Special education teachers educate students who have various types of disabilities, including speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional distress, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, multiple disabilities, specific learning disabilities, visual impairments, autism, combined blindness and deafness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments. A special educator has to work with students of all ages from infants and toddlers, students in elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as youths. The special educator’s job also involves working with a team of professionals, i.e., doctors, speech pathologists, social workers, orthopedists, psychiatrists, counselors, etc. The teaching methods and techniques in special education would vary based on the disability and it would also vary from individual to individual.

The teaching methods include individual instructions, problem-solving techniques, group work, and special assignments depending upon the needs of the individual. They can also develop individual educational programs for each student to help with the child’s activities of daily living. As technology plays an important role in special education, a teacher is expected to instruct the students and their parents on the latest instrumentations and its usage in disability, as the case maybe. For instance, interactive software and computers that talk are now available in the market, which would be of great help for students with speech impairments. It requires a lot of enthusiasm, optimism, patience, tolerance, and perseverance for one to be a special education teacher as the job involves a lot of interaction with students of all age groups and with other people.

In the United States, all states demand special education teachers to be licensed. The special education teacher has to complete of a teacher’s training program and must have a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree. As they deal with students with mild to profound disabilities, their job demands specialization in either one or other areas of disability, which would enable the teachers to develop their own curriculum materials and teaching techniques to meet the needs of the students.

By: Ken Marlborough