Course Purpose and Content

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Ronnie tells you, “Effective documentation is an important part of Guardianship. Let’s talk about why it is so important.”

Effective documentation:

  • Establishes accountability and evidence of services provided.
  • Provides an accurate, timely, objective account of an individual’s situation, services, plan of care progress or the lack of, interventions, challenges, health, and other relevant information.
  • Is valuable at the time of intervention and for years in the future.

What is the purpose of effective documentation?

  • Helps to assure continuity of care.
  • Helps the service team remember events.
  • Serves to tell a story and helps identify patterns of behavior.
  • Provides a record of information used by the GSSW and other service providers in team meetings and court hearings.

Poor documentation:

  • Lacks clarity, specificity, and completeness.
  • Is subjective and contains the writer’s opinion and feelings versus facts.
  • Prevents a clear presentation of the individual under guardianship’s story.
  • Has the potential to create risks and lead to unintended negative consequences which could compromise an individual under guardianship’s health, safety, & welfare.

KYGFIS:

  • The Kentucky Guardianship Fiduciary Information System (KYGFIS or GFIS), is a database system where all relevant individuals under guardianship information and documentation (referred to as events) are entered or attached and stored.
  • Next, we will discuss what information should be documented in KYGFIS and how.