The Support Services section of AGIS.com expanded recently to include a new End of Life section. AGIS has worked with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to develop information on palliative care, hospice and grief. The numerous features show you the steps to help you prepare for, and respond to, the final days of a loved one.

The Palliative Care section highlights the differences and similarities between palliative and hospice care, including costs, providers and services. You can also find links to articles and additional resources regarding managing your loved one’s pain.

Continuing to the Hospice section, you will find information about ensuring dignity and painlessness during the final days of a loved one. Hospice terms, services and duties are explained to make planning and selecting hospice care easier.

“Hospice itself is a philosophy, not a place,” explained Jeanne Brenneis, former Director of the Center of Bioethics and Chaplain at The Hospice of Northern Virginia, during part of National Public Radio’s “The End of Life: Exploring Death in America” series. “It’s a multi-disciplinary effort to provide the medical, emotional, and spiritual care needed for the patient and for the family. I think an important piece in this is that we attempt to treat the family — the whole family unit — as our patient, not only the individual.”

Treating the family unit becomes paramount in the days following a loss. The Grief & Loss section addresses a family’s unfamiliar physical and emotional reactions to death. While each member of the family will cope individually, this section broadly outlines factors, aspects and emotions involved in the grieving process. Even though nothing can fully prepare families for the toll of caring for a dying loved one, these resources can prepare caregivers by letting them know help is available.

The rest of the Support Services section has additional information on agencies, organizations and groups available to assist caregivers. In addition to the pragmatic financial, housing and caregiving information there, you can also find comfort and council in the experience of others.

Filed under: AGIS, End of Life Issues, Medicare & Medicaid, hospice