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7 AAC 12.337. Counseling services. (a) A full-service hospice agency shall develop an organized program to provide spiritual, emotional, bereavement, and other counseling services under the supervision of a qualified professional. Counseling services may include the provision of written material, social reorientation, and group support. (b) While the client is receiving hospice care, a full-service hospice agency shall make available spiritual, emotional, and other counseling services to the client and to the client’s family as reasonable and necessary for palliative care and management of terminal illness and related conditions. (c) A full-service hospice agency shall make available bereavement counseling to assist the client’s family and caregivers in coping with grief experienced after the client’s death. (d) Any spiritual counseling, if desired by the client or the client’s family, must be provided by a pastoral or spiritual counselor recognized by the governing body to be capable of providing spiritual, religious, and emotional support to the client and, as necessary, the client’s family. The hospice agency may not request or require the client or the client’s family to accept any value or belief system. The pastoral or spiritual counselor shall

(1) regularly reassess the spiritual needs of the client and the client’s family related to the changing status of the client’s terminal condition;

(2) support and assist the client, the client’s family, or both;

(3) develop and maintain contact, subject to the client’s approval, with the client’s identified religious representative; and

(4) be a member of the interdisciplinary team. (e) A full-service hospice agency shall make available dietary counseling to the client, the client’s family, or caregivers, as necessary, including counseling that will assist the family or caregiver in preparing food for the client. The agency shall ensure that dietary counseling is related to the client’s needs rather than the personal needs of the family or caregiver. Dietary counseling shall be provided to clients who experience difficulty in meeting nutritional needs, including clients with dysphasia or other swallowing problems, problems with enteral feedings, or nutritional issues resulting from nausea, vomiting, or the dying process. Dietary counseling must be provided by a registered nurse or other person with relevant education or training. In this subsection, “enteral feeding” means the delivery of liquid feedings through a tube for individuals who have a functioning gastrointestinal tract, but are unable to orally ingest adequate nutrients to meet their metabolic and nutritional needs. (Eff. 5/24/2007, Register 182) Statutory Authority: