July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Hospice work rewarding (11/13/03)
Editor's Mailbag
By To the editor-
President Bush has proclaimed November as National Hospice Month.
Hospice care is recommended when curative care is no longer expected to be effective, and the care shifts to that which is comfort and symptom-oriented. Family Hospice offers physician services, nursing care, medical appliances and supplies, medications for symptom management and pain relief, short-term inpatient and respite care, homemaker and home health aide services, physical and other therapies and counseling. Bereavement services are provided following the death of a loved one.
I volunteer for Family Hospice of Northeast Indiana in Berne. We serve patients and their families in Adams, Wells, Blackford, Jay, east Huntington and south Allen counties. The patient’s care plan directs the number of visits and services required to assist the patient and their family. As a volunteer, I provide various services to my patients and families. The types of services may depend on whether the patient is at home or in a nursing facility. Some of the activities a volunteer can offer are: reading, feeding, taking them for wheelchair rides, singing to them, taking them to appointments or just sitting at their bedside and listening to them. I like to go the “extra mile” by providing them little treats, e.g. milk shakes or bananas.
I became a volunteer by signing up at a health fair. I am going into my fourth year as a volunteer. I have found it to be deeply rewarding. There are tears, but there are happy times, too. I have been welcomed in and loved by so many families. The first visit may be a little intimidating: “Will they bond with me? Will the dog like me and let me in the door?” But usually, after a visit or two we become fast friends. I feel it is an honor to be permitted to share in a person’s life at the end.
We have volunteers of all ages, men and women. I hope you will consider hospice work at some time in your life. It has been said, “We stand tallest when we stoop to help someone else.”
Linda Peters
Portland
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Hospice care is recommended when curative care is no longer expected to be effective, and the care shifts to that which is comfort and symptom-oriented. Family Hospice offers physician services, nursing care, medical appliances and supplies, medications for symptom management and pain relief, short-term inpatient and respite care, homemaker and home health aide services, physical and other therapies and counseling. Bereavement services are provided following the death of a loved one.
I volunteer for Family Hospice of Northeast Indiana in Berne. We serve patients and their families in Adams, Wells, Blackford, Jay, east Huntington and south Allen counties. The patient’s care plan directs the number of visits and services required to assist the patient and their family. As a volunteer, I provide various services to my patients and families. The types of services may depend on whether the patient is at home or in a nursing facility. Some of the activities a volunteer can offer are: reading, feeding, taking them for wheelchair rides, singing to them, taking them to appointments or just sitting at their bedside and listening to them. I like to go the “extra mile” by providing them little treats, e.g. milk shakes or bananas.
I became a volunteer by signing up at a health fair. I am going into my fourth year as a volunteer. I have found it to be deeply rewarding. There are tears, but there are happy times, too. I have been welcomed in and loved by so many families. The first visit may be a little intimidating: “Will they bond with me? Will the dog like me and let me in the door?” But usually, after a visit or two we become fast friends. I feel it is an honor to be permitted to share in a person’s life at the end.
We have volunteers of all ages, men and women. I hope you will consider hospice work at some time in your life. It has been said, “We stand tallest when we stoop to help someone else.”
Linda Peters
Portland
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