In a proclamation issued from the White House, President Obama declared November 2010 as National Hospice Month.
Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice are Mid-Michigan’s original hospices. They have been privileged to provide the very best of care for the terminally ill and their families for over 31 years. They are also proud to be a participant in the Michigan Hospice Veteran's Partnership (HVP). This is part of a national network of hospice programs and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, veteran’s service organizations, and the Veterans' Health Administration. The HVP is here to ensure that veterans can access quality end-of-life services.
As announced by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) on November 1 of this year, the proclamation reads in part: "All Americans should take comfort in the important work of hospice care, which enables individuals to carry on their lives, in spite of a terminal illness. During this month, let us recognize those who allow the terminally ill to receive comfortable and dignified care."
The NHPCO continues to state in their November 1, 2010 release:
The Access to care has improved significantly in the three decades since November has been celebrated as National Hospice Month. The first White House proclamation honoring hospice month was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. At that time, hospices in the US served several thousand individuals and their family members each year. New data from National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization shows that a record 41.5 percent of people who died in the US – 1.56 million patients with life-limiting illness – were served by the nation’s hospices last year.
“We are seeing more and more families avail themselves of the compassionate care but there is still work to be done,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “Too many people only receive care for a few days which is not enough time for patients and families to take full advantage of the wide range of services that hospice and palliative care professionals can offer that help people live as fully as possible up until the end of life.”
“Seasons of Caring,” this year’s theme for National Hospice/Palliative Care Month, reminds people that life’s final seasons can be some of the most fulfilling and encourages timely access to quality care at the end of life.
As part of its commitment to increasing access and helping providers better serve their communities, NHPCO in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has created We Honor Veterans, a pioneering campaign to help improve the care Veterans receive from hospice and palliative care providers. The We Honor Veterans website, www.wehonorveterans.org, went live only days before National Hospice/Palliative Care Month. Many people may not realize that one out of every four dying Americans served our country in the military – that’s more than 680,000 Veterans who die every year.
Lars Egede-Nissen, Excutive Director of Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice says, “I served as an officer in the US Navy and am proud to be honored as a veteran. Because of my personal experience, I am especially committed to serving veterans who are referred to Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice for end-of-life care.”
Continued from the release from the NHPCO:
“Through We Honor Veterans we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care providers understand and serve Veterans at the end of life and work more effectively with VA medical facilities in their communities,” said Schumacher.
Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families. They also serve as valuable community resources about care options. Hospice is not a place but a philosophy of care created to help people live with dignity, comfort, and compassion at the end of life. Palliative care works to bring this philosophy of care to people earlier in the course of a serious illness.
November provides an important opportunity for hospice and palliative care professionals and volunteers to reach out to community members, referral sources, legislators and the media with important messages about care.
Additional information about hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, and talking with loved ones about these important issues is available from NHPCO’s Caring Connections. For information, to find a local hospice, or to get a free state-specific advance directive form, visit www.caringinfo.org or call the HelpLine at 1 (800) 658-8898.
Care providers will find more information about caring for Veterans at www.wehonorveterans.org.
Hospice of Lansing, a nonprofit, invites the public to celebrate the annual Trees of Light Memorial Service, November 21, at 6:00 pm. The event will be held at the Stoneleigh Residence, 3411 Stoneleigh, Lansing, to remember and honor our loved ones who have died either at home, in a facility, or at our Stoneleigh Residence. A suggested donation of $15 is suggested. This service is held outside on the beautiful grounds of the Stoneleigh Residence. The service will include a reading of the names, and the tree lights will then be turned on illuminating our trees in honor of those who have died.
