WLTX Feature Story on Compassionate Care Hospice

WLTX , the CBS affiliate in Columbia, SC did this great feature on the Compassionate Care Hospice volunteer program!

Volunteers Required!

  Did you know that the federal government REQUIRES all hospices to have volunteers?  And it's not just a few volunteers!  They require that AT LEAST 5% of the total patient care hours be from volunteers.  That really adds up to a big need for hospice volunteers. 
  So what do hospice volunteers do?  Well, really a myriad of things.  Here are just a few:

Friendly patient visitors to share a warm, compassionate presence with patients and their families.  Much of the time the patients will be sleeping so the volunteers just sit quietly while the family care givers might run to a doctor's appointment or to the store.  Sometimes, these volunteers might run the errands for the family.  Other times, the volunteer might just hang out with a patient and talk, play cards, read a book, etc.  We try to match up volunteers and patients by their interests.  Musicians with portable instruments, such as violin, harp, flute, and guitar to play music for patients. Administrative volunteers who can do filing, answer phones, accomplish general office tasks and those with good person to person skills. Event volunteers to help plan and/or staff special community events. Bi-lingual volunteers Groups of volunteers who may come in and do a "work day" in a patient's yard, etc. So, really, if you have a desire to help people, we can use you as a hospice volunteer!  If you are interested in volunteering at Compassionate Care Hospice, please visit our ad on Volunteer Match or email me, Tiffany the Volunteer Coordinator, to get the details!

Hospice Myth #2 - Patients can only receive hospice services for a limited time.

Of all the hospice myths out there, this is one of the myths that keeps people from calling for hospice care when they need it.  So many people are afraid they will "use up" their hospice benefit from their insurance or Medicare/Medicaid.  That's so sad because people should get the help they need, when they need it, no matter what!  

The truth is while the hospice guidelines do require the patient have a life expectancy of less than six months, insurance and Medicare/Medicaid will pay as long as the patient continues to meet the medical criteria for hospice care.  To translate for us non-medical types out there,  as long as the patient is not getting better (ie, not feeling so awesome that they decide to kick up their heels and headline the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular), they can keep receiving hospice care as long as they live. 

Bottom line: whether a patient lives six months, six weeks or six years after being admitted to hospice, they will be taken care of. 

And there is absolutely no reason to wait to seek hospice help when you need it.  It's totally free to call for a hospice assessment.  The nurse will come out and examine the patient.  If they aren't hospice appropriate, the hospice team won't admit, BUT they will tell you what kinds of things to look for in the future, AND we will also guide you as to the services and resources that are appropriate and available to you.  Everything clear as mud?  Good!  Glad I cleared that up! 

Hospice Myth #1 - Hospice is a place.

   Hospice is not a place, but it did start out that way!  The word hospice comes from the Latin word "hospitium" which means "guesthouse".  Long ago in days of yore, when travelers, weary and sick, were returning from pilgrimages to distant lands, they could find rest at a "hospice."  In the 1960's, the first modern hospices were formed.  Today, over 80% of hospice care is provided in the patient's home, family member's home or nursing home! 

   Hospice as we know it today is not a place, but rather, as defined by the Hospice Foundation of America, "A concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatment." 

   Hospice care neither prolongs life or hastens death.  It is all about making life the best it possibly can be for whatever legnth of time the patient has left.  And while most patients in hospice care are looking at six months or less, many patients stay on hospice for years and many more even get better and end up not needing it at all!  Hospice has a team of professionals that include a doctor, nurse, aide, chaplain, social worker and volunteers that work together to create and execute a plan of care which is designed to support both the patient and family members who take care of them.  Dealing with end stage illness is never easy, but hospice eases the process as much as is possible........Myth #1 - BUSTED! 

Nobody likes to talk about dying...

  I think we can all agree that NOBODY likes to talk about dying.  Yet, at some point in everyone's life, it happens!  (Really if you think about it, everyone who is alive in the process of dying since it will eventually happen to everyone.)  I know that when unpleasant things loom on the horizon most of us tend to use the avoid or deny tactic of handling it.  We think if we don't talk about what's coming, we can put it off.  I have noticed in my own life that the times I have done just that, I inevitably made things harder on myself and those around me.  How much better it would have been if I had just faced the facts and then armed myself with all the resources needed to navigate the enivitable in the best way possible!  Defiuitely the best time to have all the facts was BEFORE I NEEDED THEM!  If I had a dime for each time I had said to myself, "Why did I wait so long...", I would be a very, very rich girl today!

  So, since nobody likes to talk about dying, I guess that's what makes people hesitant to talk about hospice.  It's a case of guilt by association.  But unfortunately, because most people don't want to talk about it (doctors included), the majority of people with a hospice appropriate diagnosis miss out on having the best possible quality of life for themselves and their loved ones.  And I think we can all agree that while nobody wants to talk about dying, EVERYONE wants their final days, months, and even years to be the best quality possible.  And that's what hospice care is all about. 

  In the next few posts, I am going to bust some of the biggest hospice myths out there so hopefully, somebody out there surfing around on that big ol' wave we call the World Wide Web will have the facts BEFORE they need them!  I wonder what most of you think about hospice right now?  Use the comment section to let me know what you know so I can see who's got a myth that needs busting! 
  

Looking for volunteers!!

Hospice.  It's a word that brings hopelessness to mind for most people.  It's who you call when there's nothing left to do but "make them comfortable".  Compassionate Care Hospice is seeking compassionate volunteers with big hearts to serve as patient visitors for patients - to bring comfort, caring and compassion to the lives of others. 

Volunteers are needed to serve in a variety of capacities:

• Friendly patient visitors to share a compassionate presence with patients and their families.
• Musicians with portable instruments, such as violin, harp, flute and guitar to play music for patients.
• Event volunteers to staff special events.
• Administrative volunteers who can do filing, answer phones, accomplish general office tasks and those with good person to person skills. 
• Bi-lingual volunteers

Volunteers are considered part of the interdisciplinary team process and all are non paying positions.