Give Hospice a helping hand this month

NELSPRUIT – International Hospice and Palliative Care Day takes place on October 13. It is an ideal opportunity to raise awareness about the services offered and the need for more volunteers to support patients and their families as well as assist with fund-raising.

The Nelspruit Hospice is a non-profit organisation which provides quality home-based palliative care to people with life-threatening illnesses. They have professional nurses who are trained and who provides physical, psycho-social and spiritual support to a patient and family regardless of their race, disease, religion or socio-economic situation.

Palliative care defined by the World Health Organisation is an approach that improves the life quality of patients and their families through the prevention and relief of suffering, the early identification and assessment and treatment of pain and other problems.

This day is an opportunity to dispel the following inaccurate perceptions

• Myth: Having hospice and palliative care means you will die soon.

• Fact: It is not only for terminal patients. It is a holistic approach that includes caregiver support, spiritual care, bereavement and much more.

• Myth: Hospice and palliative care is just for people with cancer.

• Fact: All those who are diagnosed with a chronic life-limiting illness can benefit from this.

• Myth: Palliative care only manages pain through the use of addictive narcotics.

• Fact: It is whole-person care that provides psycho-social and spiritual care along with pain and symptom management.

Nelspruit Hospice has recently started an SMS campaign to generate extra funds. SMS the word “Hospice” to 39007, and donate R15 to a worthy cause.