Palliative Care vs. Hospice: Are They Both the Same?

Leslie Fore and Sandy Jessop

Learn more about palliative care and hospice at these upcoming events.

Santa Catalina Catholic Church, Feb. 18 or Feb. 26

Jennifer Vanden Eykel, RN, MSN, patient care manager and clinical nurse educator from Casa de la Luz Hospice will be offering a “Hospice and Palliative Care—What You Need to Know” presentation and Q & A session about hospice, palliative care, and the “Five Wishes” program. It will be held at Santa Catalina Catholic Church at 14380 N. Oracle Rd. on Sunday, Feb. 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. or Monday, Feb. 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. The same program will be presented twice, so feel free to attend the one that best fits your schedule.

Come join us for an open and honest discussion about hospice—the elephant in the room. The presentation will clear away some of the myths and answer questions and concerns about this important topic so families can be empowered and able to make decisions.

Some comments from past presentations:

* “I wish we would have called hospice sooner.”

* “I had no idea all of your services were available to my family, and completely covered by Medicare!”

* “Hospice took care of our entire family, and they were so helpful in one of our most difficult times.”

We hope to see you at one of the programs.

La Hacienda Clubhouse, La Mesa Room, Feb. 27

Our community and our Cancer Support Group (CSG) are fortunate to have so many medical professionals living right here in SaddleBrooke Ranch. Trudy Foot recently retired as a palliative care nurse, but that hasn’t stopped her from helping within our community!

When asked about the difference between palliative care and hospice, Trudy graciously confided that most people really don’t know the difference, even though the care as well as the need for these two types of care are completely different!

While palliative care focuses on improving quality of life during treatment, such as chemotherapy and surgery, hospice care provides near end-of-life care; when a medical doctor anticipates life expectancy to be six months or less.

To truly understand these care differences for possible future needs, the Cancer Support Group will welcome Terri Issacs, N.P., from the Casa de la Luz Hospice in Tucson.

Issacs will share her expertise and answer questions regarding palliative and hospice care. The entire community is invited:

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

La Hacienda, La Mesa Room

Please mark your calendar and join us for this important topic. Then join us for happy hour as we support each other with talk, love, and laughter.