What to Expect
Client and Family-Centered Care
CHIP has a multidisciplinary team to meet the comprehensive needs of children, teens, young adults and pregnant women living with HIV as well as parents and guardians within the context of the family. Team members include Specialized Physicians, Nurse Specialists, Nurse Practitioners, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Developmental Psychologists and Registered Dietitians.
The team works closely with other sub specialties including gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology, obstetrics, dentistry, ophthalmology, pharmacy, physical, speech and occupational therapy and home care nursing services.
The child, teen or young adult’s care is coordinated with the primary care physician, school programs, community agencies and support services.
The pregnant woman’s care is coordinated with her OB provider, other care providers and community agencies.
The parent’s care is coordinated with University Hospital, Denver Health and private HIV care providers in order to provide adult referrals and inpatient care.
What to expect during your visits to CHIP
Our pediatric clinic is held on Tuesday mornings on the 2nd floor of the outpatient pavilion at the Children’s Hospital. Our youth clinic is held on Wednesdays at the Village Pavilion at the Children’s Hospital. These are multidisciplinary clinics where patients will have an opportunity to meet with several different types of providers to have their needs met in one place.
Nurse Practitioner – You will be assigned a primary nurse practitioner. Your nurse, along with the medical staff, will help find solutions to medical problems and should be the first place you call with a medical concern. Your primary nurse will assist you with obtaining medicines, reviewing blood test results and answering questions about your care. This person may also talk to you about research studies that may be available for new treatments.
Physicians – The physicians that will be seeing you specialize in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. You will be assigned a primary physician. There will be times that you will see another physician on the team, but the information will be reviewed by your primary physician.
Clinical Social Workers – You will have a primary social worker that will spend time talking with you about your concerns relating to your/your child’s treatment, reactions of family members or friends, fears, hopes and beliefs about HIV, or community resources you may need. The social worker will also spend a lot of time educating about HIV, discussing disclosure, helping with adherence, assisting with referrals, and addressing any psycho-social issues.
Pharmacist – Our program has a pharmacist that is familiar with HIV medication and can assist with issues related to adherence, changing medication, interactions with other medicines and reducing side effects.
Dietitian – Our dietitian can help make sure that your diet is meeting all your nutritional needs and give advice on any specific dietary needs or issues.
Neuropsychologist – The primary role of the CHIP team neuropsychologist is a research position. She collects the developmental and neuropsychological data for the research protocols. She has a good depth of experience concerning the needs of young people living with HIV. The neuropsychologist is available to consult with families about developmental, educational or neuropsychological concerns they may have.
Translation Services
To help ensure families understand their child’s medical care and circumstances, we offer in person interpretation services to patients who would prefer to communicate in a language other than English or who are deaf or hard of hearing. Please ask your nurse or any staff member about this service during your visit.
Additionally, each in-patient room is equipped with a “blue phone” dedicated entirely to interpretation. These are voice activated and serve as a valuable interpretation tool in a variety of languages. There is also a “blue phone” available at the Information Desk.
We also provide document translation for reports, letters, etc., in your preferred language.
Para comunicarse con Children’s Hospital Colorado, por favor, llame al (720) 777-1234 y pida hablar con la operadora que habla español.