Very few are ever truly prepared to hear the words, “we have done all we can do,” there is nothing more we can do,” or “there is no hope for a cure.” Tidelands Community Hospice, your community’s locally based not-for-profit hospice since 1985, has provided hospice care and services to over 6,000 patients and families in Georgetown, Horry, and Williamsburg counties.
During that time we have witnessed first- hand, the emotions and difficulties a person and their loved ones have in making decisions at that time. It is difficult to make decisions in the middle of a crisis, especially for those who do not know about, have not experienced or have misconceptions about Hospice.
There are those who feel choosing Hospice means “giving up on hope,” some think Hospice means “having to go without medical treatment,” while others fear choosing Hospice is going to be sad and depressing for them and their loved ones or they may have to leave their home. For many who have not experienced Hospice care, there is the misconception that patients are just lying in bed waiting for the end.
For those who have experienced Hospice, they know that hospice care:
1. Gives hope
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The psychologist Charles R. Snyder “linked hope with the existence of a goal, combined with a determined plan for reaching a goal.”
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Tidelands Community Hospice care team works with each patient and family to determine what their hopes, desires, and choices are. Together, they develop a care plan to ensure that the patient spends his/her days as they desire, in comfort and with dignity.
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A former patient’s son said, “One of the key things about hospice for me and for my mother was I really believe they brought her from a place of fear to a place of hope.”
2. Provides physical, emotional, social and spiritual care to the patient and their loved ones
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Tidelands Community Hospice’s interdisciplinary team of medical directors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, volunteer and bereavement coordinators, chaplains, and volunteers work together to treat the whole person, not just the disease with the focus on quality of life.
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Patients receive the highest standard of quality, compassionate care. Our hospice care team is trained in pain management, symptom control, emotional and spiritual needs with the focus on patients living each day to the fullest, in comfort and with dignity and providing support to the families.
3. Removes the fears and is about living each day to the fullest
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Tidelands Community Hospice’s teams cares for patients where they live, be it their home, a nursing home or an assisted living facility. Patients are able to be surrounded by their loved ones in their home.
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Patients are able to enjoy laughing and talking with friends and loved ones, doing favorite activities, and making choices and plans about what they want for their days.
“It is our privilege, on a daily basis, to care for and see patients living each day to the fullest in comfort and in dignity and to see their families receive their support. The common thread in letters we receive is “If we had only known, we wished we had called you sooner.” For more information, please contact 843-546-3410 us or visit our website tidelandshopsice.org,” said Barriedel Llorens, Foundation Director.
