Modesto (November 13, 2023) – Throughout the month of November, Community Hospice & Health Services will be joining organizations across the nation in recognizing National Hospice and Palliative Care Month (HAPCM). This year’s HAPCM theme is “Courageous Conversations.”
For more than 40 years, hospice has helped provide interdisciplinary, supportive care to millions of people, allowing them to spend their final months wherever they call home and surrounded by their loved ones. Hospice teams craft plans of care that ensure pain management, therapies, and treatments all center on the patients’ and their loved ones’ goals and wishes. Hospice care also provides emotional support and advice to help family members become confident caregivers and adjust to the future with grief support for up to a year.
“National Hospice and Palliative Care Month provides an opportunity for patients, providers, and community members alike to engage in advance care planning and other important discussions about the care they wish to receive when facing a serious illness before the time of crisis,” said Ben Marcantonio, COO and interim CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). We believe everyone deserves a good death, and the way to get there is through courageous conversations.”
Each year, over one million Medicare beneficiaries receive care from hospices across the United States. When a patient is not eligible for hospice care, they may benefit from community-based palliative care, often offered by hospice providers. Palliative care is patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Palliative care throughout the continuum of illness also involves addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and facilitates patient autonomy through access to information and choice.
“Our care teams are dedicated to helping our community members fulfill what is most important at the end of life. All too often we are faced with family members questioning their decisions as they never had the difficult conversations surrounding end of life,” said Alisa Bettis, President/Chief Executive Officer for Community Hospice & Health Services. “National Hospice and Palliative Care Month reminds us that life is fragile and that we can celebrate and fulfill our loved ones wishes by taking the time to share what matters most and complete an advance healthcare directive. We encourage you to join us in celebrating HAPCM by having a Courageous Conversation.”
More information about hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning is available from Community Hospice & Health Services at hospiceheart.org or on NHPCO’s CaringInfo.org.
Community Hospice & Health Services Mission:
To embrace individuals and families facing life-changing journeys, enhancing quality of life for all.
About Community Hospice & Health Services
Community Hospice & Health Services is a nonprofit, community-based agency, serving the Central Valley since 1979. Community Hospice & Health Services embraces more than 2,500 patients and families each year providing support through vital programs including hospice and palliative care for adults and pediatrics, general inpatient care at the Alexander Cohen Hospice House, bereavement support, outpatient mental health counseling for adults and children, and Camp Wokini, a youth camp for children and teens who have experiences loss. For more information about Community Hospice & Health Services programs call 209.578.6300 or visit hospiceheart.org.
###