A Group Effort

Hospice combines the best in patient care

Hospice care is truly a multidisciplinary practice, taking the efforts of many, from trained professionals to compassionate volunteers, and combining it all to enable patients and their families to truly enjoy life for as long as possible. This quote from a guest commentary in Colorado's Daily Camera goes into more detail:

Truth be told, pain and symptom management -- though critical -- is merely one aspect of the care hospice provides to terminally ill individuals and their families. Those who choose hospice care also receive the emotional and spiritual support they need to fully live every day that remains at home, in comfort and with dignity, surrounded by their loved ones. In fact, through the expert and compassionate care of an interdisciplinary team (including a hospice and palliative care physician, registered nurse, certified nursing assistant, social worker, chaplain, and grief counselor) and a customized care plan based on respect for each individual's choices and goals, hospice helps patients and families find peace and meaning, strengthen personal relationships, and complete and celebrate life. All of which eases the burden for patients and their loved ones at what is understandably a difficult time of heightened family dynamics and differences.

Nobody wants to worry when they know that time is limited, and that's exactly what hospice takes care of. With all needs covered, those in hospice care are left to fully engage their friends and loved ones or participate in favorite activities, making the very best of what they have.

Hits for Hospice 2011

Charity tournament a "hit" with volunteers and participants

from WDTV 5 News:



Hospice Care held its second annual Hits for Hospice softball tournament at White Park in Morgantown Saturday.

Ten teams were at the all day event, which benefits Hospice Care.

More then 100 volunteers, players, and fans from around the community came to the co-ed tournament to raise money.

The non-profit organization relies on events like this to stay open.

Hospice Care officials said these tournaments help to get the community together and stay involved. "We're just gathering momentum, and people enjoy playing to raise money for patient care," said Cynthia Woodyard of Hospice Care.

Folks traveled from as far as Elkins and Pennsylvania to play in the tournament.

Our thanks to those who came out and volunteered, or tried their hand in the annual Hits for Hospice tournament! It's events like these that allow us to continue to provide quality hospice care to individuals throughout West Virginia!

You can find more information about upcoming events at the Hospice Care website, here.

Social Media

Changing how we connect

Whether your objective is marketing, public relations, or customer service, social media is the way to go these days. While the tech and business worlds have embraced this new way of communication, the medical field, especially those focused on end-of-life care, have been lagging behind.

Efforts like The GroundSwell Project are seeking to change this. In a recent blog post, founder and director Kerrie Noonan described how GroundSwell is using social media to promote what they call, "death literacy:"

It was with great interest that I attended the Palliative Care Australia stakeholders’ forum in Canberra recently where we talked about strategies that encourage increased community awareness about palliative care.

This includes amplifying community conversation and knowledge about death and dying. Social media was a big part of this discussion, and it was wonderful to see this on the agenda because whilst there is a lively international community of palliative care tweeple and social media communicators, on a national level we have yet to fully explore the potential of new media to share our stories.

I was invited to the forum as the director of a not-for-profit health promotion organisation, The GroundSwell Project. We use both traditional arts and digital media to promote resilience and community well-being at end-of-life and through bereavement. We collaborate with schools, palliative and aged care organisations to run our arts programs and to encourage awareness about what we call ‘death literacy’ in the community.

As a health-promotion organisation our work is underpinned by a public health and social approach to death, dying and bereavement, and social media is our preferred platform for communicating about our work.

We have embraced Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Twitter and WordPress to share stories about our projects. For instance, news about our current high school drama project on organ donation is regularly posted on our main website and can also be followed via a dedicated project website. At the same time all the participants are actively involved in sharing via a closed Facebook group. Photos and videos are also integrated across our websites thanks to Flickr and YouTube. Everyone in the project, young and old, is involved in sharing online.

Education is always one of the highest priorities of palliative and hospice care programs, and what better way than through free mediums that allow messages to reach thousands of eyes instantly? Your social media efforts don't have to start out big, but a blog, Twitter account, and a few carefully selected YouTube video postings can draw attention to the many services offered and the often touching results.

End-of-life Education

New law raises debate

I shouldn’t be surprised when doctors object to laws telling them how to practice medicine, as does New York State’s new Palliative Care Information Act — not surprised, but in this instance, distressed.

Vehemently opposed by the Medical Society of the State of New York, the law passed last summer by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature and took effect in February. The legislation was written in collaboration with Compassion and Choices of New York, an organization that advocates for informed choices and greater physical and emotional comfort at the end of life.

The act, which I discussed in this column last August, states that when patients are found to have a terminal illness or condition, health care practitioners must offer to provide information and counseling about appropriate palliative care and end-of-life options. Patients or their surrogates are entirely at liberty to refuse an offer to discuss these options.

California passed a similar law in 2009, and other states are considering them. These measures promise to reduce the cost of care at the end of life, as well as the suffering often associated with it; palliative care is meant to reduce the severity of disease symptoms, pain and stress. 

This quote, from a New York Times article, brings to light a battle currently being fought across the U.S. While many doctors do voluntarily share end-of-life care information with their patients, a disturbing amount still fail to have this conversation until it's too late to make a choice. While the doctor's society is officially protesting the fact that they are "forced" to have these talks, few are willing to argue the fact information about palliative and hospice care is often glossed over or ignored when it would be in the patient's best interest to be informed.

Making Choices Easier

New approach enables more informed decisions

Talking about terminal illness is one of the hardest things a doctor and patient have to do together. Besides the obvious difficulties of discussing the end of life, most people lack a clear understanding of just what the different types of treatment available entail.

To assist with that issue, a new video, described here in a quote from a CNN article, is being used across the country to educate and inform patients before they make these important decisions.

"Videos help to broach a difficult topic and to make it more real and less abstract for patients and their loved ones," says Dr. Angelo Volandes of Massachusetts General Hospital.

The videos cover a variety of illnesses: cancer, heart disease, and dementia. There are typically three options. The first - prolong life at any cost - including breathing tubes and CPR. The second offers only medical treatment, like chemotherapy and antibiotics. Finally, there's comfort care, which may include medical treatment but which focuses on relieving suffering.

For Bernadette Wilson, the videos were an eye-opener about two aggressive procedures. "CPR and putting on a breathing machine - it doesn't work for cancer patients," Wilson says. Before seeing the videos, Wilson thought "that it would probably work."

After seeing the videos Wilson told her doctors that she doesn't want to be resuscitated. "When I saw that gentleman laying there on that ventilator - that was difficult. I wouldn't want that for me or anyone else."

Studies show that most patients who watch these videos change their minds about what they want and choose less aggressive care.

It's every person's right to choose the type of care that is best for them, and, as the level of patient education continues to expand, more than ever are choosing hospice care for the its ability to let them enjoy life.

You Can Help!

Hospice volunteers change lives

Hospice care teams consist of many people. Obviously, medial and psychological professionals are involved, but did you know that important roles are often filled by everyday people who volunteer for service? In an article for the West Virginia Gazette, Julie Robinson interviewed both employees and volunteers at a local hospice program to discover more about this topic. A quote:

Volunteers often underestimate the value of their own talents. One patient who started a cross-stitching project was distressed when she was physically unable to finish it. A volunteer who also cross-stitches sat with her and finished it.

"Our volunteers don't think their talents are a big deal, but they are to us," said Toni Bee, registered nurse and volunteer coordinator. "A young long-term cancer patient wanted to keep a journal. A volunteer visits and journals for her, taking down word for word what she says. The goal is to give it to her parents after she's gone."

Another long-term patient who was born and raised in Hungary wasn't eating well because she didn't like institutional cooking. Gates emailed volunteers and one responded. Her parents were from Hungary and she still had their recipes, which she used to prepare foods that comforted the patient and increased her appetite.

Patients are people, and as we know it can be difficult to predict every possible need a human being may have. Fortunately, those gaps can often be filled by the selfless work of volunteers.

Everyone has something to contribute, so call your local hospice program and tell them you'd like to help!

Hospice Nurses

Making a difference, every day

Hospice care nurses play an essential and active role in patient care. In a recent article for the Crystal Lake Tribune, staff writer Dawn Lassiter-Brueske recounted touching statements made by Illinois hospice nurses in honor of National Nurses Week:

“Upon learning that I am a hospice nurse, many people ask, “How can you do that kind of work? Isn’t it depressing?” On the contrary, I feel that there is so much that can be done to help people with terminal illness, that the rewards to all involved, patient, family, caregivers, can produce a great deal of relief and even satisfaction. To watch pain replaced by comfort, anxiety by relaxation, insomnia by sleep, these are the rewards hospice workers experience. We grieve,, yet the sense of loss is tempered by the satisfaction from knowing that we made a difference, giving them the best quality of life with the time they had left.” – Kimberly O’Neill-Lim, LPN

“Every day, every minute I have the honor of taking care of our patients and their families. I do this in memory of my own mother who was in hospice care.” – Linda Ranahan, RN

“As hospice nurses, we have the opportunity to help our patients in so many ways, from helping a dad coach his son’s soccer team from his wheelchair, to giving a woman a last view of her hometown with photos found online. It’s not just a clinical job. It’s so much more.” – Cathy Klingler, RN

“Having recently lost a loved one who was in hospice care, I experienced from the other side of the bed how it feels to be surrounded by a caring team . What I have always known in my head, I now know in my heart.” –Karla Guilfoil, RN

“For me, about 5 or 6 years ago, I would have to say ONE of my many memorable moments as a hospice nurse was when our team was able to facilitate a cross-country train trip to Seattle, Washington, for one of our patients and fulfill a dream he had of taking along his kids to visit his sister before his death. He did not think it would be possible, given his condition. But we made it happen; he arrived safely, was able to spend some time with his sister and make memories with his children. Almost every day, I think about how much of a difference we can all make, even in the little things.”—Helen Allums, RN

“My most memorable moments as a hospice nurse were my visits with Mr. P. He and his wife inherited his son’s dog, Sandy, who was a pit bull. During every single visit, Sandy laid on my patient’s and I had to do my assessment around her. It worked for everyone. “– Denise Sample, RN, BSN, Director of Clinical Services, HPNI

“We had a patient who was avid baseball fan. We suggested that the family sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” for him. The patient reached out, touched his grandchild’s hands and died with a smile on his face.” – Karen Gibboney, RN

“While the nursing team was caring for a stroke patient in our Woodstock inpatient unit, the patient, who previously could not communicate, was able to point and communicate to staff about “her angel.” When asked by staff about her “angel,” the patient turned her head and said how beautiful he was. Shortly after care had been provided, the patient’s speech returned to a slow, difficult to understand manner, but the patient still smiled.” – Daneen Gorski-Adams, RN

All of the money and technology in the world would be for naught without the giving natures and personal efforts of these men and women.

Our thanks to the many who contribute not only to our program at Hospice Care Corp, but world-wide!