Cambia Health Foundation awards $170,850 to help fund Grants Pass start-up.
[Press Release Distribution]
Grants Pass-area residents will have better access to palliative care thanks to a $170,850 grant from The Cambia Health Foundation to Lovejoy Hospice. The Hospice plans to use the grant to provide staff education and training, provision of direct services and community awareness and education.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.
“Most large hospital systems offer some form of palliative care, but it has yet to take hold in smaller communities” said Peggy Maguire, Cambia Health Foundation board chair. “The Cambia Health Foundation is committed to expanding access in medium and smaller size communities like those served by Lovejoy Hospice. We believe that everyone should have choices about their care at end-of-life and access to palliative care in their own communities.”
Currently, there is no local hospital-based or home-based palliative care program available in Josephine or Douglas County. With the Foundation’s grant, Lovejoy Hospice will develop a palliative care program that fills this unmet need. The program will integrate medical and psychosocial care to focus on pain and symptom management, emotional, psychological and spiritual support, patient and family education about the illness/ condition, advance care planning, discussion of personal and family goals, and referral to community resources.
“One of the challenges we had to overcome with implementing this program was confusion – even among health care providers – about what palliative care is and its role in medical treatment,” said Deneen K. Silva, R.N., BSN, CHA, Executive Director of Lovejoy Hospice. “Palliative care doesn’t mean giving up on curative treatment. It means improving a patient’s quality of life, at every stage of treatment.”
About Cambia Health Foundation
Cambia Health Foundation is the corporate foundation of Cambia Health Solutions, a total health solutions company dedicated to transforming the way people experience the health care system. A 501(c)3 grantmaking organization, the Foundation partners with organizations to create a more person-focused and economically sustainable health care system. Through its Sojourns program, the Foundation also works to enhance quality, improve access, advance innovation and facilitate conversations about palliative care and end-of-life issues. For more information, visit http://cambiahealthfoundation.org/ or www.twitter.com/cambiahealthfdn.
About Lovejoy Hospice
Lovejoy Hospice was founded in 1981 in Grants Pass, Oregon, as an independent, not-for-profit community service organization. Lovejoy Hospice provides compassionate hospice care and bereavement services for adults and children in Josephine, Jackson, and Douglas counties. In addition, the organization offers Transitions, a free program providing needs assessment, social and emotional support, and referrals to community resources to those facing life-limiting illness who are not yet ready for hospice. Beginning as an all-volunteer organization, Lovejoy Hospice currently has approximately 50 staff and 50 volunteers who provide care and support to their neighbors in southern Oregon.
Contact Info:
Name: Deneen Silva
Email: deneen@lovejoyhospice.org
Address: 939 SE 8th St., Grants Pass, OR 97526
Phone: (541) 474-1193
Organization: Lovejoy Hospice
Source: http://marketersmedia.com/lovejoy-hospice-launches-new-palliative-care-program/9230
