We are halfway through November, and that means we are halfway through Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month!
End of life doulas are often called upon to educate our clients about hospice and palliative care options. This can be a tricky topic, because many people believe they understand what hospice care is, but when people have only limited information, and might not even be sure what questions to ask, it is not unusual for them to have misconceptions about the purpose and benefits of hospice.
The most common misconception is that hospice is simply a place where people go to die. But as Dr. Amy Newton states in this video, hospice is not a place, although there are hospice care facilities. Nor is it reserved merely for the final days or even weeks of a person’s life. While hospice care is generally only offered to people who have been given a prognosis of six months or less to live, the fact is that the earlier they begin to receive hospice care, the more likely they are to respond well to care, improving and often extending the amount of time they have. In other words, hospice care is not focused on death at all, but on providing improved quality of life, for as long as possible.
At IDLM we always strive to help our clients and their families to find the comfort and support they need by helping them to connect with the best available resources. By forming partnerships with organizations like Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice and Odonata Care, we ensure that IDLM students and graduates have comprehensive and up-to-date information to share with their clients. Resources like Barbara Karnes’ end-of-life educational booklets are invaluable for helping our clients understand the end of life process and make decisions about how they would prefer to receive care at end of life, and Thanacare provides excellent tools for helping doulas stay organized.
Your job as end of life doula is to do as much as you can to help your clients receive the end of life experience they want for themselves, and in most cases, the best way to ensure that experience is through hospice care. All of these resources, as well as the amazing doula community at the Movement, are always available to you, and no question is too small or too large when it comes to making sure you feel well informed and confident when it comes to educating the people you work with. We are here for you, so you can be there for them!
