title: Hospice: a comprehensive program.
abstract: Having begun operations in 1991 with six employees, four volunteers, and three patients, the St. Louis-based Incarnate Word Family and Alzheimer's Hospice today boasts 44 professional employees, 6 clerical staff, and more than 100 volunteers. The hospice offers a medically supervised home care program in which staff work closely with patients and families throughout the illness and bereavement period. Using a palliative rather than curative approach, the Incarnate Word Family and Alzheimer's Hospice focuses on enhancing the remaining life of the patient. Patients are enrolled based on their need for care, not on their ability to pay for services. To meet the unique needs of certain patients, the hospice offers a variety of specialized services, including pediatric, Alzheimer's, and AIDS care. Collaborative efforts with local agencies include cross-training, continuing education, client referrals, and support services. In 1993 Incarnate Word introduced hospice services to area residential care facilities (RCFs). The program enables RCF residents who develop life-limiting illnesses to remain in the place that they have come to know as home. In March 1994 Incarnate Word Family and Alzheimer's Hospice opened a branch office in north St. Louis. The new location enables the hospice to serve more people and creates an additional resource for physicians treating terminally ill patients. Volunteers provide rest breaks for care givers, help with meal preparation and simple housekeeping, run errands, comfort patients and family, and listen when others may find their story too overwhelming.
authors.affiliation: Incarnate Word Hospital, St. Louis.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neubecker
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D002410:Catholicism; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D018575:Home Care Services, Hospital-Based / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016519:Hospitals, Religious; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri