Honoring America's Veterans Includes Caring at Life's End

Hospice Buffalo a Member of We Honor Veterans Program

 

Dec. 19, 2011 - Buffalo, NY -   An innovative program, We Honor Veterans, is helping healthcare professionals honor our nation's Veterans. Hospice Buffalo has joined We Honor Veterans, an awareness and action initiative of the Department of Veterans Affairs and The National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization.

By recognizing the unique needs of our nation's Veterans who are facing a life-limiting illness, hospice and palliative care providers are able to accompany and guide these men and woman towards a more peaceful ending.  For Veterans who experienced combat service or other trauma, this can be particularly important as experiences from the past may resurface at the end of life.

"Through We Honor Veterans we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care professionals and volunteers understand and serve Veterans at the end of life," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. "It is time that we step up and acquire the necessary skills and fulfill our mission to serve these men and women with the dignity they deserve."

Hospice Buffalo cares for hundreds of veterans each year in homes, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and hospice residences. More than 1,000 hospice organizations across the country have joined We Honor Veterans and are increasing their skills and capacity for serving Veterans.  Activities range from utilizing a military history checklist at admission, recognition events like pinning ceremonies and certificate presentations, to outreach to other community organizations.

Hospice and Palliative Care is a covered benefit for all enrolled veterans. Palliative Care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness - whatever the diagnosis. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage of a serious illness and can be provided together with active, curative treatment.

Palliative care can be a complement to conventional, disease-modifying medical therapies or it can be an alternative when such treatments are no longer effective or not desired by the patient.

Hospice, the most intensive form of palliative care, is provided to seriously ill patients who have less than six months to live and who have agreed to enroll in hospice services, rather than to pursue aggressive cures for their illness. Hospice focuses on comfort for both patients and loved ones, not cure. VA defines hospice and palliative care as a continuum of comfort-oriented and supportive services provided across settings, including hospital, extended care facility, outpatient clinic, and private residence.

For more information on Hospice or Palliative Care services for veterans, call Hospice Buffalo at (716)686-8000 or visit www.HospiceBuffalo.com for updates and resources.

-END-