By Dan Brown | Aiken Standard, SC/TNS
FOR Hospice Care of South Carolina workers, it is all about providing compassion and dignity for their patients. It’s about making a difference to patients, their families and their loved ones. Hospice Care of South Carolina was created to make a difference, a difference in their patients’ lives, and every life touched by an advanced illness. Hospice care is available to those with less than six months to live.
“For more than a decade, we’ve been changing the way people think about hospice care by focusing on living, and focusing on what the end of life can be,” said Katie Ard, community relations liaison with Hospice Care of South Carolina, during a presentation to the Aiken Rotary Club on Monday. “We are committed to providing our patients compassion and dignity. Those are two very important words for Hospice Care of SC workers.”
As America’s Baby Boomers age, the need for hospice care rises among South Carolina’s 46 counties. “Over 9 million Americans are over the age of 65,” Ard said. “But hospice is not a death sentence; it’s about recognizing someone is dying and giving them choices. It is not giving up hope. It is about preserving hope. It is about facing reality and making transitions that are good for the patient and family.”
Hospice is not a place, Ard said. “It is a concept of care that is delivered in the place a person calls home.”
Hospice also is not exclusive to the elderly. While the majority of patients served by hospice are elderly, almost 20 percent of patients are under the age of 65.
“Hospice care is for anyone who has a life limiting illness,” Ard said. Children are affected as well as adults.
“Kids are amazing,” Ard said. “Children touch our lives in so many different ways: a smile, a laugh, a hug. We admire their playful spirit as they laugh with friends, swing on the monkey bars and even color outside of the lines. It’s often easy for us to overlook the pain that some children face through the loss of a loved one.
“A child’s pain can sometimes be masked through laughter and play,” Ard said. “We recognize that children grieve in many ways. They want support from their peers and need to know that they’re not alone, others are going through the same thing. This is why we created Camp Hands of Hope, a safe, caring environment where children can express their feelings and connect with others going through similar experiences.”
Camp Hands of Hope Hospice care is not just for the dying.
“As a family-centered concept of care, much focus is placed on grieving family members,” Ard said. “Grief and educational services are also available to the community at large, serving schools, churches and the workplace.”
Camp Hands of Hope is sponsored by Hospice Care of South Carolina in partnership with The Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation. The goal for the camp is to provide a safe environment that will allow children, teens and families to be surrounded by others who are experiencing similar grief. The camp was set up to honor a patient by the name of Katherine, who was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away in January 2000 at the age of four. Katherine is survived by her mom, dad and her sisters, Caroline and Michaela.
Ard said Camp Hands of Hope’s goal is to support Katherine’s memory in a way that honors her young life by serving other children.
“We provide outlets to laugh again, play hard and develop friendships with others going through similar experiences,” Ard said.