One out of every four hospice patients in the United States is a Veteran. These military Veterans have unique experiences and perspectives and, as patients of Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care, we work with them and their families to create an equally unique plan of care for each of them.
Hospice admission can sometimes present a bag of mixed emotions for a patient and their family. Does it mean you’ve reached the end of the road? Not necessarily. Is it the beginning of a more comfortable experience? Almost always.
Anthony Amato is a big fan of parrots and used to own several of the colorful birds. He trained them to speak and perform tricks so when his Crossroads Volunteer Patty Landwehr arranged for a visit from a fine feathered friend for his Gift of a Day, he was flying high!
There’s been countless research on palliative care that effectively documents the benefit of its early integration in the cancer treatment process. This type of care improves outcomes such as the patient satisfaction rate, symptom management, nausea and vomiting improvement, and overall pain management for cancer patients.
It’s a fact that the demographic of American Veterans is getting older overall. After all, less than 1 percent of Americans actually serve in the military today. Regardless, half a million Veterans will be in need of end-of-life care each year for the next five years.
The Gift of a Day is one of our signature programs at Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care. We try to give every patient one perfect day. These days are always very special for the patient and their families. Unfortunately, it is the nature of hospice, that not all Gift of a Day events go as planned.
