When Should You Enter a Palliative Care Unit or Opt for Hospice Care?

The New York Times takes a look at some of the most important questions a patient will face:

3. How should I decide when to enroll in hospice care?
That’s a decision that also should be made after talking to your doctor, as well as your palliative care team and family. Once a patient enrolls in hospice, which is covered as a special Medicare benefit, he or she generally pays nothing, although there may be some co-payments required, like those for medications. Patients in hospice, however, agree to forgo treatment aimed at curing their illness. They can always choose to stop hospice care, though, if their condition improves or if they simply change their mind, Mr. Schumacher said.

The short article in the NY Times also addresses insurance coverage of hospice, and other pressing issues for patients and families.

At Blue Skies Hospice, our committed staff will do its best to advise and guide patients through the process, and in doing so, formulate a plan that works for the patient's preferences and priorities.

Blue Skies Hospice Grief Support Group

Please Join Us

 

Who:      Blue Skies Hospice

 

What:    Grief Support Group

 

Where:   2714 169^th Street, Hammond, IN  46323

 

When:    Third Firday of every month

             

Time:     5-7 p.m.

 

We believe this meeting will be beneficial for both those who have experienced the loss of a loved one and for those who are currently a patient or friends and family of patients still within hospice.

 

We hope that you will make plans to join Blue Skies Hospice as we seek to provide overall care for our patients and their friends and families.

 

 

Please RSVP to 219/554-0688.

Blue Skies Offers Services to Help Those in Their Most Difficult Stages

Kimberly A. Condon, a nurse who worked in the ER and in hospice, writes about her experiences in a moving and thought provoking new essay for Slate. Her essay is deeply personal and it demonstrates the difficulty everyone faces in dealing with death - whether the death is of a loved one or a patient.

Blue Skies Hospice, with its caring and competent staff of nurses, doctors, clergy, social workers, and volunteers, is dedicated to providing care, comfort, and companionship during the final days of a patient life, and it also offers a bereavement group to help the families of patients make the transition into a new world that suddenly feels empty without the presence of their loved one.

Please contact us and inquire about our services. We can answer your questions, and we hope, ease your worries.

Blue Skies Hospice Hosts Spring Tea

On May 10th, Blue Skies Hospice held a "Spring Tea" at Hammond Whiting Care Center. The residents enjoyed homemade cookies and sipped tea from china tea cops. Each resident that attended was given a ceramic bird; a reminder that spring is here.

Not all residents pictured are Blue Skies Hospice patients

Blue Skies Sponsors "John Wayne Day"

On April 16th, Blue Skies Hospice sponsored "John Wayne Day" at Kindred Care in Dyer. The residents had a great afternoon watching the movie, "Mclintock", enjoying refreshments, and having their picture taken in our western picture booth.

Blue Skies staff and volunteers in the Western Picture Booth

A Kindred resident in the picture booth

New Essay in The Atlantic - How Not to Die

Jonathan Rauch writes an excellent and deeply personal essay about end-of-life care in America. He uses his own research, interviews with medical professionals, and the experience of watching his father die in a hospital to present a moving and thought-provoking call for better and more human end of life care that prioritizes "the conversation" between patients, doctors, and families, and considers the pain, comfort, and dignity of terminal patients; rather than coldly putting people through unnecessary and unhelpful batteries of tests and procedures.

The committed and compassionate staff at Blue Skies Hospice believes in treating pain, providing spiritual comfort to families, and preserving dignity as terminally ill patients go through the final stage.

One of the points that Rauch makes in his terrific piece is that patients and doctors should have more conversations about end of life treatment options, and that they should spend more time - as painful as it might be - preparing for the inevitable.

Blue Skies Hospice can help facilitate this process, and the staff will do so with the most urgent and profound concern for the patients and their families.

Free Community Progran on Health Care Decisions

On Tuesday, April 16th, Blue Skies Hospice will sponsor and host a free community program on health care decisions and creating your power of attorney for health care.

Why is it important that you attend?

Ask yourself:

If you became seriously ill, what kind of care would you want?
Who would follow your instructions and ensure you get the care you need?

If you are caring for someone with declining health, do you know what kind of care they will need in the future? Do you know what their wishes are?
Do you know where to seek additional support services for your loved one and for yourself?

Speakers include local attorney James R. Oates and health care consultant, Susan Schwartz, R.N..

The event takes place on April 16th, from 2-4pm, at the Hammond Public Library on 564 State Street.