Hospice and Palliative Care
Holistic support for patients with limited life expectancy to help meet physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs without discrimination but with love, acceptance and dignity.
Specially trained staff (consisting of a team of doctor, nurse, social worker/counsellor and volunteer) who work closely with the patient's primary care physician, if necessary, to oversee care and treatment.
Focus is on controlling pain and other distressing symptoms connected with end-stage disease. This includes dispensing medications, dressing foul-smelling, fungating ulcers, Ryles tube insertion, administration of IV/subcutaneous fluids, Ascitis tapping, bladder wash, catheterization, stoma care, etc. Sponge bath, eye and oral care, and perineum care form an integeral part of the routine procedures to prevent fungal infections and make the patient as comfortable as possible.
We
- Provide patients with hospital cots, water beds, wheel chairs, bed pans, urinals and commodes
- Train volunteers, family and patients in basic nursing care and infection control
- Provide advice on nutritional requirements
- Allow patients to ventilate feelings and emotions; help identify patient and family concerns
- Assist the patient to regain maximum independence and thereby meet self-care requisites
- Empower the patient and the family by helping them find strength in themselves and to make informed choices
Hospice Home-based Care
In addition to the services offered above, Home-based care enables people with chronic illnesses to be cared for at home.
We offer the following :
- Basic nursing care, good symptomatic control as well as social and emotional support in the comfort of their own homes
- Counseling to the family and patient based on first-hand insights of the stressors at work, in their own setting
- Bereavement support to the grieving family members
- Mobilize other people to provide support
- Promote acceptance of people with cancer/HIV (still a socially stigmatized disease)
- Enhance the quality of life for as long as life lasts
Bereavement Befriending
The main task in bereavement support is to help any suffering, bereaved person through the normal course of their grief by sensitive listening and empathetic support or working with those whose grief is more problematic. The practitioners are often faced with dealing with overwhelming emotional pain.
- Active follow-up available for relatives of those who have died, follow-up or contact initiated by clinicians/primary care providers to address clinical questions, within 2-4 weeks of death
- Memorial services conducted for staff and families
- Bereavement support groups offered
- Bereavement support 1:1 for families also available
Referrals
Referrals can be made by Doctors, Social Workers, Volunteers, Relatives of those who were under our care and others.
Keywords: Rural healthcare services, Palliative care, Hospice care, Pediatric Palliative Care, End-of-life care, Symptom management, Holistic support, Emotional counseling, Family training, Patient dignity.