Hospice Care Helps Patients and Families Focus on Living

MARSHFIELD, MA, November 14, 2010 (Press-News.org) "Hospice care helps patients and families focus on living" is the message that NVNA and Hospice is sharing with the community during National Hospice/Palliative Care Month. However, this important message lasts beyond the month of November and is important all year round.

"November is a valuable time to raise awareness throughout our community about care at the end of life," said Maureen Banks, RN, Hospice Director. "But the time a family might need us doesn't follow a calendar or occur only during this season, so our message must make an impression that stays with people all year long."

Every November hospices across the country reach out to raise awareness of the compassionate care that hospice and palliative care provide patients and families coping with serious and life-limiting illness. This year's Seasons of Caring theme reminds people that life's final seasons can be some of the most fulfilling, especially when patients and families look to hospice care for help.

Banks points out that NVNA's hospice team is a "relatively new branch on the agency's 90-year old tree." The agency, founded in 1920, added hospice services two years ago to bring the full continuum of care to its patients. NVNA and Hospice is the only independent, free standing non-profit home healthcare and hospice agency serving the South Shore from Quincy to Plymouth.

The hospice team provides expert medical care to keep patients comfortable and able to enjoy time with loved ones, answers questions, offers advice on what to expect, and helps families with the duties of being a caregiver. The team also provides emotional and spiritual support for the entire family. NVNA and Hospice also offers a Pet Therapy Program and Veteran's Recognition to its hospice patients.

"It's about quality of life," said Mary Ann McCue, RN, Hospice Clinical Manager. "One of our biggest challenges is educating people that hospice care is not just for the very end of life but for people with advance disease who are looking for support to stay at home."

"There's an inaccurate perception among the American public that hospice means you've given up," said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. "Those of us who have worked in the field have seen firsthand how hospice and palliative care can improve the quality of life. And there's a growing body of research showing that hospice and palliative care may prolong the lives of some people who receive care."

More than 1.56 million patients receive care from the nation's hospices every year, reports the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

For more information, please call NVNA and Hospice at 781-659-2342.