ALAMOSA– Hospice is not a place but is high-quality care that enables patients and families to focus on living as fully as possible despite a life-limiting illness.

Palliative care brings this holistic model of care to people earlier in the course of a serious illness. November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and hospice and palliative care programs across the country are reaching out to help people understand all that hospice and palliative care offer.

In recent months, a number of notable Americans have died. They include Senator John McCain, the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, and former first lady Barbara Bush. In many media reports, they were described as having “given up” on curative care late in their lives. Franklin opted for hospice care; Bush received what was described as “comfort care.”

It is essential that people understand that hospice and palliative care is not giving up, it is not the abandonment of care, it is not reserved for the “imminently dying,” said Edo Banach, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “Hospice is a successful model of person-centered care that brings hope, dignity and compassion when they are most needed.”

Every year nearly 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries receive care from hospices in this country, reports NHPCO. Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their family caregivers when a cure is not possible.

As Maria, the niece of a Hospice del Valle patient states, “On behalf of our family we cannot thank you for the kindness and dignity you showed my aunt and both my mom and myself during the end of life process.  We are so very grateful for the heartfelt time Hospice del Valle staff spent with Aunt Louise. For us, this time is filled with sweet sorrow, the loss of a loved one and the end of her suffering.  We will look back on this time with gratitude because we were our best selves for Louise and a large reason, we could do that was because of hospice.  You all are the best examples of humanity this world has to offer.”

Hospice is able to provide a holistic approach to care that allows families to spend quality time with their loved one when time is incredibly precious.

Throughout the month of November, Hospice del Valle will be joining organizations across the nation hosting activities that will help the community understand how important hospice and palliative care can be.   

More information about hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning is available from Hospice del Valle, please reach out to us by phone 719-589-9019, email [email protected], web www.hospicedelvalle.org or come into our office 514 Main Street Alamosa.