news and community events

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Crater Community Hospice goes paperless

With a few keystrokes, Crater Community Hospice case managers are recording vital signs and updating medical records right at the bedside of their patients. Since Feb-ruary nursing staff has been using computers to chart and access medical records. Hospice Patient Management System, HPMS, provides the software and wireless management system with portable computers, now utilized by CCH case managers. Electronic record system is being implemented in stages and effective July 1 will be fully utilized making medical charts paperless.

The project’s potential was immediately recognized for mainstreaming care. “With two care teams covering a seven-county, four-city area, it was a top priority to provide up-to-date technological tools for better and faster patient care directly at the bedside,” said Brenda Mitchell, CEO.

Secure access to patient information including the medical history, medications, and current pain level, equips staff with the clinical data to make informed and effective decisions at the bedside. Staff can focus on providing the highest levels of support for patients and families. Access to up-to-the-minute information advances communication required for delivery of excellent services. All information in the records is protected health information and is closely monitored for confidentiality and privacy.

The technology system utilizes laptops specialized software and system support and hosting sites. Petersburg Methodist Home for Girls, a local foundation, and community donations have provided funding.

Timely communication is the key to successful, efficient delivery of hospice and other home care services. All of the new electronic tools are essential to our ability to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of the patient and families. As the baby boomers become a part of the population we care for, we are finding that their children communicate through emails, instant messaging and voice-mail. Once again, these tools are necessary to be operationally efficient and responsive to patients and families.

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Message from the CEO

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CCH commemorative bricks available to families

A commemorative brick is an ideal way to leave your mark, honor someone, or memorialize a loved one. Each brick can be engraved with your name or the name of a friend or family member.

Bricks will be placed in the CCH Memorial Garden, being developed at the South Crater Road office. Your gift will help support Crater Community Hospice provide critically needed services for residents of our greater community. Call Krista Ratliff at (804) 526-4300 for information.

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The high concentration of nonprofits thriving in the Tri-Cities fosters a community of enterprise and partnership.

Since late Spring, Petersburg Area Art League (PAAL) has exhibited local artists at CCH’s newly renovated building at South Crater Road. “We wanted to show our support to this exceptional organization by donating art for display to the staff, vol-unteers and guests of Crater Community Hospice,” said Kymberly Keniston-Pond, Gallery Administrator of Petersburg Area Art League. Nonprofit organizations affect the quality of life in our community providing critical services, inspiration, and social action. They affect how we live, what we value, where we turn for enjoyment and when we need help.

“Art is reflective of the spiritual and ex-pressive nature of the hospice experience in which individuals decide to live life to its fullest without pain, with choices, dignity, and family support,” said Brenda Mitchell, CEO, “ for CCH, art promotes an optimistic environment with images that create reflection and reduces stress. A rotating art gallery broadens our outreach and provides the staff with continually changing image displays.”

Local artists have an opportunity to display their work in hopes of generating sales as well as sharing their gifts with their com-munity. CCH receives a percentage from the sale of each piece. Tours of the exhibit are available during office hours.

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Why do our volunteers donate their time at CCH?

1. They find personal satisfaction in helping others.
2. They have been touched by hospice within their own families.
3. They want to give something back to their community.
4. They find insight and meaning in their own lives by being present as people deal with the profound issues of life and death.
5. They wish to learn new skills that go to the core of human relationships.
6. Many say they find the spiritual and emotional rewards they experience far outweigh the time and caring they contribute.

Transitioning to Widowhood

Facing the loss of a spouse is one of the most stressful events of one’s life. In 2005, the US Census Bureau reported approxi-mately 14 million widows and widowers in the United States. Although the largest number of widowed, both men and women, are older than 64, the average age to be widowed in the United States is 56.

Transitioning to Widowhood
Up until the last century, grief was considered a primary cause of death. Today studies do not bear this out. Findings of studies on adjustment to how people adjust to their new life situations after the death of a patient in hospice concludes that overall, participants adjust fairly well. And although new roles require widows to accept new responsibilities, the additional chores are reported to be challenging but not overwhelming.

Not surprisingly, studies reveal that gender plays a role in the grief process and adjustment to widowhood. Women express their primary grief response as worrying about how to survive. They also express concerns for their own illness or death, loneliness, loss of the relationship, and the loss of a long life together. Men present with some of the same grief responses, but their main concerns are survival and loneliness. Whereas women worry about decisions and economical survival, men focus primarily on taking care of daily tasks.

Age at the time of death affects the acceptance of the widow’s new life situation: if the patient is younger than 35 years, the spouse experienced more distress in coping with the new role of widowhood.

Supportive Care
In studies on grief both men and women report their greatest support comes from their families and friends. Both report the importance of having someone to talk to about their grief, and importantly, to share memories of their loved one. Social relation-ships during widowhood encourage a sense of health and well-being increasing a sense of security and safety.

Studies bear out the importance of listening as a supportive intervention for professionals and friends. A silent empathetic listener can act as a sounding board and encourage a person to really hear themselves and perhaps discover insights. Grief counsel-ing and grief recovery groups also offer the kind of listening that helps us heal. Seeking out support from trained healthcare providers, clergy and counselors can be beneficial in coping with the stress and adjustment following the loss of a loved one.

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