Hospice Week celebrates the provision of quality end-of-life care

Hospice Week –  Communities Share the Care
What does it mean to you? What does it mean to your family? The National Hospice Palliative Care Week, May 1st to 7th, is an opportunity to highlight and encourage Canadians to talk about what hospice palliative care means to them and their loved ones.  This year, the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and the National Hospice Palliative Care Committee 2011 have chosen to build upon the World Hospice Palliative Care Day’s campaign: Sharing the Care.

“The responsibility of caring for someone with a life-limiting illness is one that needs to be shared collectively within a community,” says Nancy Parks, executive director Hospice Prince Edward. “Together we can all make a difference in the lives of those who are living with a life-limiting illness and those affected by it.
Peter Mansbridge says “It’s a privilege to be the honorary chair once again this year.  Hospice palliative care is about dignity, quality of life, comfort and courage. By sharing the care, we can help provide the quality of care and compassion that everyone deserves at the end of life.”
“Many Canadians do not understand hospice palliative care, and how it can benefit them and their loved ones,” explains Wendy Wainwright, President, CHPCA.  “Quality hospice palliative care offers a range of services that includes physical, psychological, social, spiritual and practical support to people with life-threatening illnesses, and to their families. It focuses on what people need and want at any given time, both prior to death and during bereavement.”

“In Prince Edward County we are fortunate to have many volunteers who support our clients and their caregivers in their home, long term care facilities and the Picton Hospital,” says Parks. “Last year we supported 137 of our families, neighbours and friends. Hospice Prince Edward is committed to helping people with life limiting illness live the life remaining to them as fully as possible and easing the challenges facing their loved ones. We support their choice of where they would like to die. At hospice we believe people can have a good death……and having a good death comes from the fact that they are pain free, having some control over their situation, surrounded by their comforts of home, with friends and family.  We also help bereaved people of all ages cope with the death of a loved one and to rediscover life through our support groups.”

All Canadians have the right to die with dignity, free of pain, surrounded by their loved ones, in a setting of their choice. It is crucial that the Canadian healthcare system have the programs and services in place to provide the quality end-of-life care that Canadians need. Contact Hospice Prince Edward at 476-181 Ext 4519 for further information and visit http://www.hospiceprinceedward.ca/