Stories drawn from life will illustrate ways palliative care addresses and supports patient and family needs with positive impacts on care goals during life-limiting illness during Wednesday, June 11, event
HIGHLANDS, N.C. – Western North Carolina residents who wish to learn more about compassionate care during serious illness are invited to attend a Four Seasons Compassion for Life Lunch and Learn event, “Introduction to Palliative Care 101,” noon Wednesday, June 11, at Highlands Recreation Center.
In the supportive medical specialty known as palliative care, team members work alongside the individual’s physicians to assist in the management of serious, life-limiting illness with a focus on quality of life regardless of prognosis.
Last week, Four Seasons Compassion for Life received more than $9.5 million to implement national health care reform through its innovative community palliative care model from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, a program of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
Hosting the highly accessible presentation and discussion are Greg Candell, M.D., a palliative care physician, and Cindy Benton, a registered nurse certified in palliative care, both with Four Seasons Compassion for Life. Boxed lunches are available, with the presentation followed by a question and answer session.
“Death is ultimately a given for all of us,” says Benton.
Preparation is important for every individual. Advance planning and communicating wishes to loved ones can ensure the experience we want when the time comes, not the experience we do not want, she says.
“Knowing what is available to you and having the information at hand whether you choose to act on it or not provides a valuable foundation for the time when you are faced with those challenges,” she says.
Attendees will
• Develop an appreciation for the ways palliative care positively impacts health care delivery
• Learn about patient and family satisfaction with care received
• Aquire the ability to better participate in their health care
• Understand what the health care system can provide which is consistent with their goals
Individual stories showing the ways palliative care addresses and supports patient and family needs with positive impacts on care goals will clarify this compassionate form of medicine for those without a medical background, says Candell.
The western North Carolina branch of Four Seasons Compassion for Life hosts the Lunch and Learn event, “Introduction to Palliative Care 101,” noon Wednesday, June 11, at Highlands Recreation Center, 600 North 4th Street. For more information or to R.S.V.P., contact Callie Walston at (828) 233-0304.
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