Caring After Katrina

Article submitted by Dr. Laurence Durante, MPH, Medical Director at St. Joseph Hospice and Palliative Care.

Editor's Note: Saint Joseph Hospice and Palliative Care treasures the trust that has been placed in us in the care of terminally ill loved ones over the years. We will work diligently to continue this trusting relationship with our local physicians and families in the years to come.

Hurricane Katrina has brought untold hardship to families in the Southeast Louisiana region. We have lost homes and possessions, loved ones, jobs, businesses, hospitals, doctors, schools, nursing homes, and other needed institutions. Because of these tremendous losses, our families are coming together in unprecedented ways; living with (and on top of) one another, helping one another fix up and cope, caring for one another, and loving one in new and different ways.

One tender effect of the storm is that, due to the enormous loss of medical facilities, families are again providing care for their frail loved ones in the home setting. As in days of old, sick loved ones are increasingly cared for by their families, at home, in familiar surroundings - perhaps getting better care than was available in any institution or hospital.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hospice is an important option to be considered by stressed families that are caring for a terminally ill loved one at home. Hospice is an end-of-life care option that provides terminally ill patients and their loved ones with comfort, compassion, and dignity. The hospice focus is on caring, not curing and is usually provided in the patient's home.

Hospice care involves a team-oriented approach to expert medical care, pain and symptom management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's needs and wishes. Support for the patient's loved ones is paramount. At the center of hospice is the belief that everyone has the right to die pain/symptom-free and with dignity, and that our caring families receive the necessary support to allow that to happen.