Medical Monday Hospice care for patients and families

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - When a loved one is facing end of life, it’s a difficult time for everyone involved. To help make it a little easier, Gail Phair-Kirk, Hospice Manager for Aroostook with Northern Light Homecare and Hospice recommends looking into hospice care. “Hospice is a program for individuals and families that provides support for people entering their final stages of their lives. It also affirms life and neither hastens or post pones death. And we try to enhance the quality of a persons remaining life by making their dying process as comfortable as possible for the patient as well as the family.” She says.

Hospice provides several services for both the patient and family.

Phair-Kirk adds, “Hospice provides services into their home or home like setting. It focuses on managing a patients pain and symptoms. We assist the patient with emotional and psycho-social and spiritual aspects of dying. We provide medication, medical supplies, the DME. And we also provide the education to the family on how to actually care for the patient.”

Hospice provides support to the family members and care givers as well, even after losing a loved one.

Phair-Kirk says, “Hospice also has a bereavement proponent to it. We follow the care givers after 13 months after the death of the patient. So that way we can kinda keep an eye on them, provide them support during those most difficult times, those trigger points. And the dates, the anniversaries or what not. So we are able to provide extra support at that time as well.”

For more information on hospice care, contact your primary care physician.

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