So last night as I sat trying to make plans for my accounts to make them aware of National Hospice & Palliative Month-- I thought....hmmmm wonder if I am the only person doing that right now?? Does anyone really care about Hospice month? You know everyone knows about Breast Cancer Awareness month, but do people know or care about hospice?
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| Isadora Powell Phillips |
I started to answer for myself. Most people do not know or care about hospice until death is imminent and that is the entire reason I need to come up with some educational options to inform and make people aware. Hospice doesn't mean death and I need to make that CLEAR--
This is one definition of hospice:
refuge for travelers: formerly, a place where pilgrims, travelers, and the homeless or destitute were offered lodging, usually by a religious order--
So how did it get to mean DEATH?
nursing home for dying: a usually small residential institution for terminally ill patients where treatment focuses on the patient's well-being rather than a cure and includes drugs for pain management and often spiritual counseling
home care for dying: a program of hospice care for the terminally ill that includes home visits by professionals such as nurses and clergy to provide for the person's physical and emotional needs
I still remember when my grandmother found out she had six weeks to live-- that was over 18 years ago when hospice indeed did mean imminent death-- she asked for hospice. She asked to die at home. She asked to stay in her own KING sized massive bed!! LOL She said no to a hospital bed. She asked for volunteers to relieve her family. She was in control-- that was then-- hospice now (stay tuned to learn more)--
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