(Photo courtesy of Partners In Care)
Chances are you know someone – a friend, family member, or neighbor – who has received hospice or palliative care services. Partners In Care, our region’s leader in end-of-life care, has chosen National Hospice and Palliative Care Month to highlight the dedication and skill of its 300 volunteer and professional caregivers. Working every day throughout Central Oregon, these nurses, physicians, social workers, counselors, therapists, home health aides, chaplains, and volunteers make the wishes of each patient and family a priority.
Over the 36 years we’ve supported our community, there has been a growing awareness of the transformative difference hospice services can make in the lives of patients and families. The hospice philosophy focuses on living fully and experiencing meaningful moments until the end, surrounded and supported by the faces of loved ones, friends, and committed caregivers. The compassionate care we provide is personalized to each patient’s needs and is focused on comfort, dignity and respect.
Over recent years, we’ve also seen an increase in the use of palliative care services—specialized medical care intended to improve quality of life and alleviate suffering for people living with serious illnesses. Palliative actually means “soothing” or “relieving.” Hospice and palliative care services share many common goals and values, but while hospice care supports patients during the last months of life, palliative care provides an extra layer of support much earlier in the course of a serious illness, alongside curative treatments.
It’s not always comfortable discussing how we want to experience the end of our life. And it is certainly difficult to talk about death and the grieving process. Partners In Care can help with all of these important topics. We pay tribute to those who have taken the first steps to learn and plan for this time. And also to those who have chosen Partners In Care for hospice and palliative care services. They have shown us that there is a great deal of hope, beauty and quality of life to be experienced when compassionate care is available.
To learn more about National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, check out the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website at nhpco.org. For more information on hospice and palliative care, visit Partners In Care’s website at partnersbend.org or like us on Facebook.
Lisa Hurley is the interim outreach director at Partners In Care, Central Oregon’s only independent, non-hospital-based, not-for-profit hospice, home health and palliative care organization.
www.partnersbend.org
