PMC Awarded Grant for Palliative Care

Parrish Medical Center’s Palliative Care program recently was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Jess Parrish Medical Foundation.

The grant will be used to train and certify Advanced Care Planning (ACP) facilitators throughout the community. Facilitators help people with healthcare decision-making at different stages of health in their life.

Palliative care is help for people with serious and chronic illnesses such as cancer, cardiac disease, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney failure and many more.

Palliative care focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of their illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for patients and their families.

The program will take a train-the-trainer approach. Training will provide the basis for a systems approach to planning for advanced care.

One initiative taking place nationally to increase communication among families about personal end-of-life priorities is the Respecting Choices model.

This model will help transform healthcare in North Brevard County. It aligns with the PMC vision of Healing Families—Healing Communities®. The approach is designed to:

• Help people understand their choices for treatment.
• Involve patients in their own healthcare decision-making.
• Encourage them to express in writing their healthcare wishes and decisions.
• Simplify care management and communication through shared documents.
• Improve consistency in how advance-care planning is approached.

“As a person’s health improves or declines, personal directives may change,” explains Terry Donovan-Page, RN, MSN, PMC’s palliative care coordinator. “Advanced Care Planning discussions need to be more routine and processes need to be in place that clearly communicate and support patient healthcare choices.”