Hospice newsletter supports family caregivers
Mojave Valley Volunteer Hospice in Barstow, CA, last year launched a caregiver newsletter called The Common Touch, to support family caregivers of dying patients in its rural California desert community. These caregivers are the most burdened, and they need the most support, observes the hospice’s executive director, Wilma Self.
The newsletter is sent monthly to all primary caregivers of the volunteer hospice’s census of 20 to 25 patients, as well as to some other family members. A different publication is sent to grieving survivors of hospice patients, Self says.
Each monthly issue of the caregiver newsletter focuses on a central topic such as anticipatory grief, self-pity, a February theme on how to say I love you, or a summer theme on the importance of taking time out even for a picnic in the backyard. Material comes from various public domain sources, including the newsletter of the church Self attends.
The hospice has struggled with getting caregivers to come out to attend a support group, "even though we know they need the support." Part of the answer may be an unwillingness for rural clients to share their stories or listen to other people’s problems, Self says. By contrast the hospice’s bereavement support groups, one held in a retirement community, are flourishing.
As a volunteer hospice, the Barstow agency does not provide skilled nursing services or qualify for Medicare reimbursement, but it works collaboratively with certified hospices and home health agencies in nearby communities, filling in the volunteer and bereavement components of hospice.
"As a volunteer hospice, we can more easily do what we like and concentrate our efforts on quality-of-life issues. That’s the reason behind the caregiver newsletter. We recognized a need and tried to fill it," Self says.
The hospice is also revising its booklet called Grief . . . a Season for Healing, which uses poetry and inspirational messages to help bereaved clients. The booklet will be offered for sale to other hospices. For information, contact Self at Mojave Valley Volunteer Hospice, 220 N. 2nd Ave., P.O. Box 504, Barstow, CA 92312. Telephone: (760) 256-5706.
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