PC Hospice helps patients, their families focus on quality of life

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE Members of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association sit with Mayor Bill Dory as he signs a proclamation declaring November as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month in Greencastle. Joining Mayor Dory for the signing are member Jinsie Bingham (seated, left) and local hospice volunteer and Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association President Julianne Miranda (seated, right). In back (from left) are Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association Director Tammy Hunter, member Charity Pantkratz and hospitalist and nurse practitioner Sharon Nicoson.

Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association reminds the community that “It’s about how you live.”

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, and hospice and palliative care programs across the country are reaching out to raise awareness about hospice and palliative care.

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.

“Every year, nearly 1.4 million people living with a life-limiting illness receive care from hospices in this country,” said Edo Banach, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “These highly-trained professionals ensure that patients and families find dignity, respect, and love during life’s most difficult journey.”

Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families when a cure is not possible.

Hospice and palliative care combines the highest level of quality medical care with the emotional and spiritual support that families need most when facing a serious illness or the end of life.

“Hospice is such a tender and compassionate way to attend to the last days of a person’s life for both the person and those who love them. Serving as a hospice volunteer is a humbling and gratifying reminder about fully living to the end of life,” said Julianne Miranda, local hospice volunteer and president of the Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association.

Putnam County Hospice and Palliative Care Association was formed to raise awareness about the benefits of accessing hospice and palliative care. The Association is funded through an endowment of the Putnam County Community Foundation from Mary Louise Miller who saw the benefits of hospice care in the lives of those around her.

More information about hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning is available on the Association’s website, www.pchpca.org.

Videos and stories from families showing the many ways hospice and palliative care make special moments possible can be found at www.momentsoflife.org.