Hospice Care Can Enhance And Extend Patient Lives

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month, and one hospice volunteer says that it’s a misconception that the service is only for the end.

Sherry Koch works with the Cumberland House Hospice Auxilliary. She said that if started early, hospice care can enhance the lives of those utilizing that care.

“This actually extends the life of a lot of our patients because they’re getting the right amount of medication and on time,” Koch said. “And it also provides respite relief for the caregiver.”

Koch said that by enhancing and extending patients’ lives, it can benefit their loved ones as well. She said hospice care provides them with more quality time to connect and converse.

Koch said that the key to hospice success is by starting it sooner rather than later.

“I currently have two members of people that I know personally here in the community who are under hospice care in their own homes right now,” Koch said. “And it is greatly enhancing their caregivers’ life as well. So I can speak from experience of knowing so many people who have used our services over the years and have been so helped by it.”