All 1 entries tagged Hospice

Visiting a Hospice

Warwick Medical School put a lot of effort into ensuring that we students spend a significant amount of time out in the community, so that we are exposed to methods of providing health care other than just what goes on in the hospital ward or the GP surgery. One of the very useful exercises we recently completed was visiting a hospice and chatting with one of the patients in its care.

Like most people, the word ‘hospice’ to me has always conjured up images of a slightly macabre place where patients come to live out their days, perhaps somewhat morose but doubtless very serious and sombre. The hospice we visited, however, was entirely different from what I expected. It was an extremely comforting, welcoming and supportive environment. There were inpatients who were looked after by the staff, but there were also groups who attended the ‘day hospice’ (including the patient whom we interviewed). The day hospice is a programme which hosts individuals from the community who are facing terminal diagnoses, and helps them participate in workshops, games, crafts and other therapeutic and palliative activities one day per week. It gives individuals far more support than they would have on their own, and helps them manage their end-of-life care with dignity and compassion.

This hospice also put a lot of emphasis on patient wellbeing and peace of mind – and for that of family members, too. There was a wellness room, several alternative-therapy practitioners generously volunteered their time to assisting patients (there were Reiki healers, acupuncturists and many others), and there was even a handful of occupational and physiotherapists to provide help and assistance to patients in need. For the handful of inpatients, the hospice also provides separate relatives’ accommodation so that they can focus their thoughts elsewhere. The most humbling thing about this hospice was not even the fact that it depended on donations for 80% of its operating budget – it was that across its network, it relied on the kindness of over 2,000 volunteers to help with the day-to-day running (in addition to the paid staff, of course).

Visits like these help me to get a huge amount from the community-day exercises and are helping me to become a much more well-rounded doctor. It was really important and valuable to see care managed outside of a hospital setting; it became very clear to my clinical partner and me that having a hospice environment which people attend voluntarily enabled them to manage their life course in the way best suitable for them – which is really the essence of patient-centred care. Hospital wards are great places in many ways, but I wouldn’t think that most are very relaxing or stress-free, and thus appreciating the hospice as a useful recourse to patients who are in need of them is a key component of our medical-school education.

Megan Earle : 06 May 2016 07:52 |  Tags: Hospice John Mbchb Student Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem