Over the past few generations, our society has moved from providing home-based care for family members nearing the end of their lives to placing them in the hospital where they live out their final days, separated from their loved ones. In answer to this trend, Hospice of Wayne County offers a special kind of care for those nearing the end of life's journey by treating the physical needs of their patients in addition to their emotional and spiritual needs. We recently had the pleasure of visiting with Volunteer Coordinator Rebecca McCurdy and listened as she explained the special and memorable experience known as hospice care;
Hospice of Wayne County is a non-profit agency founded in 1982 to serve not only the residents of Wayne County but those of the surrounding areas as well. Our mission is to provide a patient-centered, team-oriented program of compassionate care for terminally ill patients, their families, and caregivers throughout the dying and grieving experience, regardless of their ability to pay. Hospice professionals and volunteers provide medical and nursing care, pain relief, and emotional and spiritual support services that address all of the symptoms of a terminal illness. Efforts of the hospice team focus on promoting comfort, dignity, and creating an environment that allows the patient to live as fully as possible at life's end.
At its core, hospice care in centered around on how you live. Dying is only one small moment in time and all the rest is living. For generations, expectant mothers faced childbirth alone and under sedation but today we've discovered the benefits of having the father present at the time of birth, having the mother awake and alert, and easing her pain without over medicating. Dying, just like birth, is a natural part of life. Hospice concentrates on making patients as free of pain and as comfortable as they want to be so they can make the most of the time that remains. When there's nothing more that can be done to save a person's life, we do everything we can to give meaning and quality to their final days. We help our patients address their emotional needs by focusing on what they may want to talk about, things they would love to have happen before they die, and what they may want to say to their loved ones.
Persons needing hospice care can find another kind of comfort in knowing that our Social Workers help find ways to meet emotional needs and assist families in meeting other challenges of a more practical nature. Home Health Aides provide personal care to patients and assistance with homemaking activities to caregivers. Bereavement care is offered to the family of the patients we serve for thirteen months after the patient's death. One-on-one supportive counseling and bereavement support groups, along with regular mailings, workshops, memorial services, and assistance to local business with our "Grief in the Workplace" series are among the other services we offer to anyone in the community.
Hospice of Wayne County works with patients in private homes, apartments, assisted-living facilities, and nursing homes. The patients are in hospice, but they are still in their own homes. The families and the patient choose which services they'd like us to provide and we assist the families in garnering the resources of the community like Meals on Wheels and other vital services. We have chaplains on our team to provide spiritual support and comfort in addition to massage therapists, dietary services, and many other auxiliary services designed to improve the quality of life.
Many of our patients have cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and Alzheimer's however, regardless of a patient's condition, age, or ability to pay, we open our doors and our hearts to them. We receive additional funding from United Way, donations, memorials, and fundraising activities. These funds cover the cost of services not covered by other forms of reimbursement and make it possible for anyone meeting admission criteria to receive hospice care.
Many surviving family members say, "I don't know what I would have done without hospice." Many credit hospice with helping to make their final days with their loved ones warm and memorable.
Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the first modern hospice in London in 1968, summed up the hospice philosophy best when she told her patients, "You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die." Call Hospice of Wayne County today and don't forget to tell them you read their story on The Advocate!
)
)
