November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month
November 8, 2023 (Jacksonville, Fla.) – Throughout November, Community Hospice & Palliative Care will join organizations nationwide to help raise awareness for National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.
As Community Hospice & Palliative Care approaches its 45th year, the organization has helped provide supportive care to patients, 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 that center on the patients’ and their loved ones’ goals and wishes. In addition, providing medical care with the emotional and spiritual support families need most when a loved one is facing the end of life, they see many patients and their families experience more meaningful moments together.
When Melissa Harrell met “Miss Melodie,” she had fallen on hard times after a series of tragedies. Through Melissa’s care and concern for Melodie, they became close friends. Melodie was homeless and lived out of her van, and while she had very few earthly possessions, she always found a way to live life every day and maintained her dignity and appearance. She would be seen around St. Augustine carrying her bright-colored red purse. Melissa would bring Melodie to her church for weekly services and spent countless hours getting to know her. During one of their conversations, Melissa found out that Melodie was very ill and was not getting the needed care. Unfortunately, she was suffering from a rare type of cancer, so Melissa took her to a doctor right away, but the prognosis was not what she had hoped. Melodie was quickly declining and was admitted to the Community Hospice & Palliative Care floor at Baptist South Medical Center and passed away nine days later. “The care she received was nonjudgmental; she was treated with dignity and respect by the entire team,” said Melissa. “They helped her feel comfortable and cared about what she was going through.”
This is just one of the many stories of compassionate end-of-life care for all patients, no matter their ability to pay. During National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, Community Hospice & Palliative Care will highlight stories on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/communityhospicepalliativecare.
In addition to hospice and palliative care services, Community Hospice & Palliative Care offers grief and bereavement support counseling, pediatric hospice and palliative care, veteran care, and advanced care planning. With over 1,000 volunteers, Community also provides pet therapy, art and music therapy, spiritual care, and fundraising efforts so no one is ever denied care, regardless of their ability to pay.
# # #
About Community Hospice & Palliative Care
Established in 1979, Community Hospice & Palliative Care is an innovative national leader in palliative and hospice care, as well as providing programs and services to meet the diverse needs of the communities it serves. During its 44-year history, through the support of more than 1,000 employees and 1,000 volunteers, the organization helps approximately 1,600 patients per day to live better with advanced illness – at home, in long-term care and assisted living facilities, in hospitals and at its 10 inpatient care centers. No one is ever denied care due to an inability to pay. To learn more about the support and services of Community Hospice & Palliative Care, visit CommunityHospice.com