You’ve been thinking about your end of life care and have taken measures about your decisions. You’ve read the articles, spoken with family and friends about your options and set up an Advanced Health Care Directive (living will), Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD), Durable POA (Health Care Proxy), and a Medical Information Release. For some […]
Preparing to Care in the Caregiver Role
Finding yourself in a caregiver’s role can feel daunting, especially in the beginning when you’re faced with a myriad of new responsibilities like medication tracking, medical appointments, and providing comfort care. There’s a certain level of management and organization that being a caregiver demands. It can eat away at quality time spent with anyone but […]
Paying for Hospice: Who, What, and How Much?
Medicare Hospice Benefit, Medicaid Hospice Benefit, and most private insurers pay for hospice care. If you find yourself entering hospice but don’t have any of these coverages, hospice can work with you and your family to ensure that the services you need are still provided. The Medicare Hospice Benefit is covered under Medicare Part A (hospital […]
Thoughts on March 2019 MedPAC Report to Congress
A message from Edo Banach. March 15, 2019 The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC’s) March 2019 Report to Congress was released today. To view the report, click here. NHPCO leadership met with MedPAC staff in January 2019 and reviewed the chapter on hospice that was released today. We provided important information and context regarding hospice […]
Dying in Peace and Why Some People Don’t
Dr. Karen Wyatt, M.D., a hospice physician and death awareness advocate, has seen patients in a variety of settings including hospice, nursing homes, and hospitals – and though the level of physical comfort may vary depending upon the care, the physical death is always the same. However, there are times when it’s a struggle for […]
Calling a Code Death
Doctors in our modern medical system are trained in ways to heal, restore, prolong life, and prevent death. But what happens when there is no more healing, no more restoration, no further prevention available and the only thing being prolonged is the inevitable death of a patient? Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter, M.D., a board-certified physician […]
Volunteer Q&A with Susan Patton
You are only alone in adversity when you choose to be. Type of volunteer: Bereavement and bedside vigil Hometown: Syracuse, New York Favorite place you’ve visited: I loved Istanbul, Turkey, Florence and Rome, Italy – but I’m always happy to come home. What convinced you to move to the Lowcountry? It all came together […]
Dying Breaths: Breathwork in Hospice
When something life-changing like terminal illness occurs in someone’s life, directly or indirectly, we don’t always know why it’s happening to us. Instead of stressing over that, what becomes more important and can offer more help in our healing —spiritually and mentally — is to take that same energy of perplexity and shift its focus […]
The Learning Curves of a Caregiver
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, in 2015 there were approximately 43.5 million caregivers that provided unpaid for care to an adult or child in the last 12 months – with 34.2 million providing unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older. The majority of caregivers (82%) care for one adult, […]
Volunteer Q&A with Clay Bonnyman Evans
Type of volunteer: Patient-family advocate and community outreach Hometown: Boulder, Colorado Favorite place you’ve lived and visited: Lived: On the Appalachian Trail for six months! Visited: New Zealand What convinced you to move to the Lowcountry? Two things – no snow (ha! despite the winters of 2017 and 2018) and no mortgage (my wife and […]