November has been designated National Hospice Month. As more families continue to face difficult decisions about hospice care, providers have an opportunity to raise awareness about end-of-life issues for the terminally ill and their care-givers.
The National Association for Homecare and Hospice has written an informative fact sheet called Hospice Facts & Statistics (PDF).
I’m also linking to a letter to the editor at the Journal Standard written by a woman who works at a hospice called Odyssey Healthcare of Rockford. She writes:
Hospice care is based on the simple idea that a person is more than an illness. Each of us has unique physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Hospice places the highest value on respect, choice and empowerment for patients and their family members…
So what is hospice? It’s caring, loving people caring for others in a supportive, compassionate and respectful manner so the patient can be surrounded by family and loved ones, many times at home, pain-free. It’s good for the soul, the heart, the family and the patient.
I have previously written about the recent death of the founder of the modern hospice movement, Dame Cecily Saunders. Click here to read that post.
