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SPRING
2002 |
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Message
from the Foundation President
Dear friends,
HCONF is once again gearing up for our annual Dreamcatcher
Fantasy Auction, to be held at the Galley Restaurant at Cliffside
Beach on Sunday, June 9, 2002. As we prepare for this major
fundraiser, which provides for the funding to support the
many aspects of Hospice on Nantucket, we are, once again,
reminded of the fine work, which is accomplished for the people
of this community.
In addition to providing direct patient care, Hospice is a
leader in stimulating community action when new needs are
identified. Over the past few months, several activities,
which have been initiated, include focusing on the needs of
family caregivers, providing a library of resource materials
to the Saltmarsh Senior Center, hosting the National Bereavement
Teleconference on Loss in Later Life, and providing educational
seminars for both health care professionals and the general
public. A HCON website is also being developed, and will serve
to extend its efforts in outreach and education.
We are deeply indebted to the community for helping to fund
this important program, and we are happy that, as Hospice
becomes more and more widely known, recipients of its services
have expressed such a high level of satisfaction.
Corky Ranney
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Advance Directives:
What are they and who needs them?
By Hospice Director Charlene Thurston, R.N.,
A.N.P.
Advance Directives are documents that provide directions
for your health care if you should become unable to communicate
your wishes yourself, at the time that a health care decision
must be made.
There are two types of Advance Directives: health care proxies,
and living wills. People may choose to have one, or the other,
or both.
While it’s a good idea to have an Advance Directive, it
is not a requirement. A federal law, called the Patient Self-Determination
Act, was created in order to allow people the option of stating
their wishes in advance, and, thereby, maintaining some control
over the healthcare they received, even if they were unable
to communicate at the time when a decision had to be made. Laws
in various states vary, regarding Advance Directives. In Massachusetts,
Health Care Proxies are legally binding, while Living Wills
are not. However, people may still create a living will to help
guide their health care proxies and physicians, so that they
might honor their wishes. Advance Directives are only used during
the period in which the patient is unable to speak for him or
herself.
A Health Care Proxy (or Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare)
is a person whom you appoint to make healthcare decisions on
your behalf if you should become unable to speak for yourself.
Health Care Proxy Forms are available at all healthcare organizations
and attorneys’ offices, and may be completed by anyone
over the age of 18. They need only be witnessed by two people,
and copies are as valid as the original documents.
A Living Will is a document in which you state your wishes regarding
end of life treatment, which you do or do not want, if you are
unable to speak for yourself. While Living Wills are not legally
binding in Massachusetts, they do serve to guide your Health
Care Proxy and your doctors as to your wishes.
Who
should have Advance Directives?
It’s a good idea for everyone to have a Health Care Proxy,
as long as you have someone close to you whom you trust to make
important healthcare decisions on your behalf. In the absence
of a Health Care Proxy, physicians usually turn to your next
of kin, but this can be problematic if that is not the person
you’d choose to make your decisions, or, if there is no
next of kin. It can also be problematic if you are widowed and
have more than one child, especially if your children can’t
agree on what your treatment should be.
Living Wills are valuable as guidelines about your wishes, especially
if you feel strongly about what you want or don’t want
for treatment. For instance, many people feel strongly that
they would not want to remain on a respirator (breathing machine)
if their chances for recovery to a meaningful quality of life
was unlikely. It would be very helpful for families to know
this, so that, if a decision were ever needed to discontinue
the respirator, they’d feel assured that they were following
your wishes. Such guidance would be a real gift to families
who often feel burdened and guilty about making such decisions.
Beyond the documents themselves, it’s most important that
you think about your values and wishes, and that you talk about
them to your families, proxies, and physicians. It’s also
important that you continue to think about and talk about these
issues regularly over the years, so that, if things change,
everyone is kept informed of your wishes. Also, copies of any
Advance Directive documents should be given to your family,
your proxy, and your physicians, as well as in an easily accessible
location in your home. In Nantucket, we also put a copy into
your medical record at the hospital.
If you’d like more detailed information about Advance
Directives, you may call us at 508-825-8325. Written information,
videos, and free educational consultations are available. We
have also provided information to the Saltmarsh Center, and
encourage you to look at websites, such as, www.partnershipforcaring.org,
www.healthcareproxy.org,
and www.agingwithdignity.org.
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“And
Thou Shalt Honor...” Are you a family
caregiver? If you are regularly helping someone take care
of his or her usual activities of daily living, then you are.
The caregiving role can creep up on us little by little and
take us by surprise. Because our society is aging as people
live longer, most of us will be caregivers to ill or aged
loved ones at some time. Most of us will also probably need
to receive care from family at some point in our lives.
Since both roles can be very difficult, we, at Hospice, are
joining the effort of many other organizations across the
nation, in helping to raise awareness and develop supportive
resources for families in which caregiving is needed. Over
the past few months, we have been meeting with other community
health care providers, in order to begin to identify needs
and gaps in services on the island, and this fall, we hope
to host a community forum, in conjunction with the airing
of a PBS special on caregiving called, “And Thou Shalt
Honor....” We hope you’ll watch the special and
participate in meeting the needs of families in Nantucket.
We also invite you to contact our office for information,
or check out the books & videos, which we provided to
the Saltmarsh Center on caregiving.
Meanwhile, the Family Caregivers Association offers several
suggestions for caregivers. Most importantly, take care of
your self, your own personal needs as an individual who is
doing a very hard job, and don’t allow your loved one’s
illness to always have priority over meeting your own needs.
It also stressed the importance of seeking and accepting information,
support, and help, and seeking professional help early, if
signs of depression develop. The association’s website
is www.nfca.org. |
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Dreamcatcher
Fantasy
Auction and Dinner
by Nina Hallowell Liddle
Please join us for the Ninth Annual Hospice Dreamcatcher Auction
to be held on Sunday, June 9, 2002 at the Galley on Cliffside
Beach.
This fabulous evening will begin with aperitifs in the restaurant,
followed by a live auction and dinner served al fresco in a
gala tent on Cliffside Beach. A delicious four-course dinner
prepared by the Chef de Cuisine will be served with wines to
complement each course. Hosts David and Geoffrey Silva together
with Michael Fahey have chosen wines from many regions to lend
an international flair to the event.
Once again, Rafael Osona will lend his wit and power of persuasion
to the live auction. Offerings this year include many unique
Nantucket experiences; fine dining in numerous cities of the
northeast and destinations such as Napa Valley, Paris, London,
Tuscany, and the Pacific Northwest.
Mark your calendars now as this will be an evening not to be
missed! |
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Educational
Endeavors
In February, our director, Charlene Thurston, completed a national
“train-the-trainer” program, and became certified
as an educator of nurses in end-of-life care. Hospice and palliative
care nurse leaders from across the country are joining together
to advance a comprehensive curriculum on all aspects of quality
end-of-life care, in order to educate as many mainstream healthcare
nurses as possible in the standards and skills necessary to
improve care for patients with life-threatening illness. The
nursing movement is parallel to a national effort for physician
education, and is supported by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation’s
Last Acts Initiative.
As follow-up to the training, Charlene presented the first of
two continuing education sessions on pain management planned
for the nursing staffs of the hospital and Our Island Home,
as well as a class for future nursing assistants at Our Island
Home. Further professional education will be offered throughout
the year.
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Loss
in Later Life
A Live via Satellite Teleconference
As we go to press, Hospice is hosting the 9th Annual Living
with Grief Teleconference on April 24th.
This year’s conference, which focuses on “Loss in
Later Life,” features a panel of experts who explore the
challenges and opportunities that older persons experience as
they face loss and make critical decisions about end-of-life
issues. As always, the panelists, moderated by Cokie Roberts
of ABC News, provide insight and practical suggestions to professionals
and to the lay public.
We anticipate that the conference will be attended by about
40 people locally, as we join with thousands of others who will
be participating from around the country.
We are very grateful to the Nantucket Public Schools for the
space, and particularly to Suzanne Gardner for her time and
technical support in downlinking this conference. |
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Health
& Spirituality Conference
Efforts are underway in planning for this fall’s Health
& Spirituality Conference, and Hospice is, once again, happy
to be joining with a cross-section of community members who
make up the Steering Committee for what has become a most inspiring
annual event. Co-chaired by Rev. Georgia Snell and Dr. Robert
Slater, this will be the fourth year in which the conference
will be held.
Last year’s theme of “Care of the Soul,” with
well known author and international speaker Thomas Moore, was
hugely successful and received rave reviews by its over 120
participants. A large variety of afternoon workshop sessions
with local experts gave participants an opportunity to focus
on a particular area of interest, and to experience various
healing modalities.
There is less and less question that attending to our spiritual
well-being is a crucial element of our overall health and wellness.
To those of us who work in hospices, there’s little doubt
that patients and families who’ve developed a healthy
spiritual dimension in their lives, seem to do better, when
faced with crisis.
Joining with this task force to bring a high quality conference
to the people in our community is very much in keeping with
our mission. We wholeheartedly encourage everyone to attend.
Watch for the date this fall..
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| Cinco
Deseos/ Five Wishes
Five
wishes is one type of detailed advance directive, which combines
a living will and a health care proxy. Since we have these
available in English and Spanish, we thought we’d print
some information about them in Spanish for our Hispanic population.
Please share this with your Hispanic friends and employees.
En la vida hay muchas situaciones que estan fuera de nuestras
manos. Sin embargo, este documento CINCO DESEOS le permite
tomar el control sobre algo muy imortante—como desea
que lo traten cuando este gravemente enfermo. Es un documento
muy facil de comprender que le permite expresar exactemente
lo que usted desea. Una vez que lo complete y lo firme debidamente,
es valido bajo las leyes de casi todas los estados.
Que son los Cinco Deseos?
Cinco Deseos es una ultima disposicion en vida que habla sobre
sus necesidades personales, emocionales y espirituales, asi
como sus deseos sobre el tratamiento medico que usted desea.
Le permite escoger a la persona que desea designar para que
tome decisiones por usted cuando usted no lo pueda hacer.
Cinco Deseos le permite expresar como desea que lo(a) traten
si esta gravemente enfermo Fue escrito con la ayuda de American
Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly,
conjuntamente con los expertos nacionales en asuntos sobre
el cuidado al final de la vida. Es un documento muy facil
de usar. Solo tiene que marcar la cailla indicada, o escribir
sus deseos.
Como puede ayudarle Cinco Deseos a usted y a su familia.
Le permite comunicarle a su familia, sus amistades y su medico
como desea que lo traten cuando este gravemente enfermo.
Sus familiares no necesitan tratar de adivinar lo que usted
desea. Los protege a ellos cuando usted este gravemente enfermo
de tener que tomar decisiones importantes sin saber cuales
son sus deseos.
Cinco Deseos le permite conocer cuales son los deseos de sus
padres, su esposo(a) o sus amistades. Asi podra darle su apoyo
cuando mas ellos lo necesitan. Usted podra conocer lo que
ellos realmente desean.
Para copias de Cinco Deseos o información y ayuda adicionales,
por favor nos llama o viene a nuestra oficina de Hospice entre
8AM y días laborables 1PM. Nuestra oficina se localiza
en el Hospital de Casita de Nantucket. Telefónico 508-825-8325.
“Cinco Deseos” printed with permission of Aging
With Dignity. |
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